Through Sorrow and Tears
by castaway567
Summary: A young girl  OC  finds herself fighting for survival in the new infected world. As her journey unfolds and she makes friends, will she cope with the ever present danger, the fear of loss, and the fact that at least one infected is different from the rest
1. Sorrow and Tears

A/N: So I wrote a very short story called bitten. After reading a lot of the stories on here, I wanted to write a much longer one. This follows the life of one of the survivors from Bitten. It is not necessary to read, but might give some insight into what the main character is dealing with. Hope you enjoy and as always, I don't own Left 4 Dead.

**Sorrow and Tears**

The pain was just unbearable. How could all of her hope be stripped away just like that. A thin eighteen year old girl sat in the shadows of an abandoned gas station, head in her hands softly crying. No it was not a physical pain the plagued her, though there was still plenty of that as well. It was the mental anguish of so much loss in so few days.

The infection had spread quickly changing most of humanity into violent, hungry mutations bent on eating anyone left alive. Two weeks ago, Carina had been your average first year college student still living at home. By some funny twist of fate, she had gone to the police station to file a report about someone having stolen her identity and racking up an outrageous credit card bill in her name. At the time, the mound of paperwork in front of her had felt like the end of the world. A mere few minutes later and she would never think about these problems again.

When the infection hit, all chaos broke loose. The streets of the city filled with infected and their fleeing prey. Many tried to seek refuge inside of the police station. As the police station was overrun with the fleeing and infected, two police officers, realizing the futility of the situation grabbed Carina and another woman and locked themselves inside the evidence room. The screams had been horrific from outside. After several hours of waiting, Carina and the others emerged into a totally transformed world. The police station, the streets, pretty much everything was bathed in blood.

As the group stepped outside, one of the officers commented on the silence. It was as if the world itself had died. The eerie lack of sound was only broken by the occasional scream of some unlucky soul and the delighted moans of the infected as they fed. The first time Carina's little group ran across one of the infected, it had been chasing a small child. The infected creature had caught up to the poor boy and attacked without mercy before they could intervene. One of the Officers shot the infected in the head dropping in instantly. As they walked away in search of other survivors, they had heard a rustling behind them. The small boy was standing awkwardly on his feet, his stomach completely torn open from the attack. The boy let out a hellish scream and charged. The second Officer shot the boy in the head. That was the first time Carina had seen a bite change someone into the infected.

The small group had spent the next five days moving from one safe location to the other. Always forced to move as the infected hoards began to mass and track them. The small group had been surviving side by side day in and day out. Carina and the older woman in the group grew very close. By day five they were thinking of each other as sisters. And then the unthinkable happened. A small lapse in alertness due to fatigue and Carina's new friend was bit on the arm. She changed quickly and in the end, Carina had fired the bullet keeping her promise to her friend to not allow herself to be bitten.

Three days later one of the Officers was bit as he was tackled by a powerful jumping mutation they had deemed a 'Hunter'. The three had sat around for hours after the attack waiting for the moment that their friend would turn and have to be put down like a rabid dog. Then to their surprise, after a full day, nothing happened. The Officer had a natural immunity to the infection. For a brief moment their spirits were lifted, there was still a chance at survival.

Then three days later, while fleeing from another wave of infected, the other Officer was bit. He held no such immunity and the fear that crossed his face as he began to turn would haunt Carina for weeks to come. As the wave of infected drew near, the infected officer had carried a pipe bomb into the middle of the street drawing a hoard in towards him so Carina and the immune Officer could escape. That night, the two survivors had holed up in the back of a small café. Neither had said a word, each silently dealing with their grief in their own way.

A few days later, Carina was grabbed by a smoker. The special infected had shot out his long tongue and snagged her leg dragging her into the shadows. As she tried to free herself, two of the common infected swarmed on her clawing at her and biting her arms. The remaining police officer managed to fight his way to her and kill the smoker and other infected before she was killed. Those hours of waiting for the infection to take hold had felt like an eternity. Luckily, Carina too was immune to the virus. It seemed such a small hope amongst all the terror that she now faced.

Then earlier today, after two weeks of fighting for survival, she had her first run in with a Tank. The freakishly large muscular mutation of a person had charged straight at them. When their shotgun blasts had done little to slow the monster down, the Officer had made a quick decision. Whether it was his training to protect others, or the natural instinct of a male wanting to protect a female, Carina would never know, but she found her self being shoved through a glass window and into a small convenient store. The Officer then took off running, drawing the rampaging beast away. He almost made it a block before he was grabbed from behind. The Tank slammed him into the ground killing him instantly. Carina turned away to avoid seeing her last friend in the world torn to pieces.

And now she had no one. She found herself huddled in a corner crying. Her family was long gone. She and the other survivors had passed her house on the second day. It was destroyed on the inside and there was blood strewn about the floor. Even if her parents had somehow survived, they were no where to be found.

Her three fellow survivors were dead. Carina, pushed the shotgun she had been carrying across the floor. With no ammo it was no more then a club. She pulled out the pistol that the infected officer had shoved into her hand before he sacrificed himself. She had eleven shots left. Barely enough to cross the street let alone escape the city. With a dejected sigh, Carina curled up into a ball sobbing ever so softly to herself. She just couldn't go on anymore.

Carina awoke with a start. She hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep. She could still hear the sobbing and painful cries of sorrows. The young girl froze as she realized she wasn't the one crying. The crying was from someone else, there was someone else alive in the store with her.

Wiping her tears away, the young blonde slowly crept her way towards the back storage room. It was completely dark except for the flickering light of an old beer sign. As she entered the room, the crying began to grow louder.

"Hello? Are you okay?" Carina asked in a hushed voice too afraid to call out in fear of attracting the infected to her and the other survivor.

The only answer was more sobbing. The beer sign flickered on again, and Carina caught sight of a young girl huddled in the corner. The girl appeared to be no older then herself, but it was hard to tell, the girl was covered in blood. Carina spared a glance at her own self and realized she too was soaked in blood. She made a mental note to get herself and this girl cleaned up as soon as she found the chance. The girl was extremely pale. 'Pale…oh God don't tell me she's changing right now.' Carina thought.

"Hey…have you been bit?"

The sobbing suddenly stopped and the other girl whirled around noticing Carina for the first time. Carina let out a gasp at what she saw. The girl's hair was a sickly silver color that matched her pasty white skin perfectly. Her eyes were solid red and held a very primal look in them. Despite the hair and the eyes, what scared Carina the most was the girl's hands. Her fingers had mutated into long claws that looked very very sharp.

Scared out of her mind, Carina collapsed into a heap and began sobbing. The witch of a girl let out a low guttural growl causing Carina to pull her legs to her chest tighter.

'Don't look, if I don't look at her maybe she'll leave me alone….please…please….plea…..'

Carina let out a small squeak of a yelp as she felt the large claws of the mutated girl brushing through her hair. "Please just go." Carina sobbed burying her face into her knees.

For several minutes, Carina waited for the witch to slice her to pieces. There was nothing she could do but cry. Then to her surprise, she heard a second voice join in with her sobbing again. Carina spared a glance to find the witch sitting next to her crying as well.

'Covered in blood and sobbing…she must think I'm just like her.'

Relief at being alive, sorrow at all her lost friends, and the weight of seeing so much carnage in such a short time overwhelmed the young girl. Not able to hold back, she continued to cry aloud. The two wails intermingling into a horrific song of sorrow so fitting to the current state of the world.

2nd A/N: Hope you are enjoying it so far. I will be updating a new chapter every week give or take a few days. Please review. The more reviews the more inspired I am to write. Us authors like to know what our audience is thinking.


	2. Attacked

**Author Note: Thank you to all who have read and a special thanks to those who have reviewed. Here is the second chapter. Enjoy. As always, I do not own Left 4 Dead…If I did, a third game would be out for all of us to enjoy (:**

Carina awoke slowly her mind still in a haze. 'What..where am I?' she thought to herself wondering why she wasn't in her bedroom at home. Then as her mind awoke, she suddenly remembered the hell the last two weeks had been. She looked at herself, her clothes covered in dried blood.

"Shit…not a dream then." She muttered to herself.

A low growl from next to her brought her attention to her unintentional roommate. "Uh…you know I can just leave if you'd let me." Carina offered up. The witch didn't even turn to look at the uninfected girl. Her growl was directed at the door way of the storage room. There standing in the doorway were two hunters. Both of the mutated beasts had a sadistic grin planted on their faces. The witch may not have killed her on sight, but Carina knew these two must have been tracking her scent. They had one thing in mind. They wanted to feast.

Carina slowly reached for her pistol and brought it up to aim at the closer of the two hunters. 'Damn if I shoot, this girl will probably rip me to shreds out of fear.'

Carina tried to slowly move back putting the witch between her and the hunters. The second hunter entered the small room and both crouched down ready to pounce on their prey.

A deafening shriek rang out and the witch next to Carina jumped up arms held out wide and sprinted towards the two intruders. The hunters, already crouched leapt into the air, avoiding the attack. Though the witch was fast, the hunters used their powerful legs to launch themselves into the witch's back before she could turn around.

The two beasts began clawing viciously at the infected girl's back. The witch let out a shriek of terror as she flung her claws back and forth trying to free herself. "Get off of her!" Carina yelled as she brought her pistol up. Her first five shots hit one hunter in the back slowing down his mauling. The sixth shot took him in the head ridding the world of his violence.

Finding some courage in her success, Carina fired her last five bullets into the remaining hunter. The impact forced the hunter off of the witch. Still in a frenzy, the witch reached out with her claws and quickly shredded her attacker. Her foes dispatched, the witch forced herself to her feet and turned towards the trembling girl.

The witch took two wobbling steps and collapsed with a pain filled groan, her putrid smelling blood pooling around her. The witches red eyes looked on, and for a second, Carina thought she could see fear in those pleading eyes. The eyes slowly closed as the witch lost consciousness.

"I'm going to regret this." The girl said as she pulled out her last remaining bandages and began addressing the witch's wounds. After several long minutes of tending to the wounds, Carina grabbed the witch and gently dragged her into a walk in freezer in the back. Luckily the freezer was room temperature, its controls having fried in the numerous power surges that had swept the city in the last week. The freezer doors would provide a better defense against the infected that were sure to come and investigate all the noise.

Quickly grabbing some food and bottles of water from the store, Carina jumped into the cooler and shut the door. She huddled next to the witch, trembling in fear as the infected began clawing at the outside of the cooler. All out of ammo, all she could do was sit and hope that the creatures outside would go away.

**Author Note: I know it was kind of a short chapter but I have good news. I've finished writing the first six chapters or so…so even though they are short, I'll probably be kicking them out every few days.**

**Please….please….please review. I really like to know what my readers are thinking and it makes my day reading your reviews. Next chapter will be up soon.**


	3. Pain and powerbars

**Author Note: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. The feedback has seemed positive so far and I'm hoping you all love this next chapter as much or more. As always, I do not own Left 4 Dead, just my personal characters and the cool sub-story. **

In the relative darkness of the freezer, Carina had to rely on her watch to know how much time had passed. Minutes began to feel like hours. The girl wanted to lie down and sleep, but the constant moans and scratching from the common infected outside prevented all her attempts. Amidst the moaning and scratching, Carina could hear the ragged breaths of the injured witch on the floor next to her.

Carina placed a hand on the infected girl's chest. Her skin was much colder then Carina's. "Who were you?" Carina whispered knowing no answer would come. She let out a heavy sigh, unsure of what to do next.

Carina suddenly felt something touch her hand. She looked down to find that the witch had encircled her small hand in a soft grip with one of her claws. The witch semi-returning to consciousness began her eerie quiet sobbing once again.

"Shh….shhh you're ok….nothing will hurt you in here." Carina said softly. The witch, too exhausted to move simply continued to cry. With the weeping drowning out the other infected's moans, Carina let her eyes close. Unable to fight the fatigue any longer, the young girl fell asleep.

Carina awoke with a start as sharp pain flashed through her hand. She looked over to see that the hand the witch had been holding was now nicely locked inside the witch's mouth, several tiny sharp teeth embedded in Carina's hand.

"You Bitch!" Carina yelled jerking her hand free and using her other hand to deliver a hard punch to the witch's face. Still too injured to put up a fight, the witch took the blow slamming her head down hard on the cooler floor. With no way to defend herself, the witch started whimpering again.

"Oh knock it off!" Carina yelled balling her fist up again. The witch let out a small shriek and managed to drag her clawed hands up in front of her face before she collapsed back in an exhausted heap.

Instead of delivering another punch, the young girl ripped off a portion of her outer shirt and began bandaging her wounded hand. With a frustrated sigh she began sifting through her supplies. Finding a small power bar, she tore the wrapper and began eating. From beside her, the witch began to whimper. The whimper had changed from one of fear to one of begging. The sound reminded Carina of her dog. When she had first gotten the little mutt, it would always bite her when it was hungry. She let out another sigh as she remembered how hard it had been to train that pet. The whimpering witch was hardly a pet and definitely more dangerous.

"You hungry?" Carina asked wondering how the witch would ever understand her. The infected girl looked at the power bar in Carina's hand. Carina tore off a small piece and tossed it to the witch who quickly impaled it off of the ground with one of her claws. Sniffing it several times, the witch hesitantly placed it in her mouth. The infected girl let out a soft growl that somewhat resembled a large purring cat.

"Yeah it's not bad as far as power bars go." Carina laughed as she took another bite. The witch hesitantly raised a claw to point at the power bar.

"What you want more? Ok, here take the rest."

The witch caught the rest of the bar in the air and quickly gobbled it down. With a sigh, Carina propped herself up on the opposite wall from the witch. The scratching was dying down and given another half a day, Carina figured she could at least risk opening the door.

'Besides, I need to get out of here before witch over there recovers enough to really try and eat me.'

Hours passed and the clawing continued. Then the monotonous sound of clawing was interrupted by the loud blast of a shotgun.

"You know I bet there'll be food in here." A male voice called out.

"Oh thank God I'm starving." A softer female voice muttered as several more shots rang out.

The witch began to let out a low growl as the noise outside increased. Carina spared a glance at the wounded witch. Her injuries were healing quite fast and she was already trying to sit up.

"No lay down." Carina said in a hushed voice pushing the infected girl back down on the floor at the same time placing an entire candy bar in the witch's mouth. The sugary treat momentarily distracted the witch and she allowed herself to be pushed back onto the floor.

If the witch went out of the cooler while the other survivors were there one of them would end up dead. Deciding this was her only chance to move on, Carina stood up. The witch let out a whimper as Carina moved towards the door. Carina looked back to see the infected girl painfully pushing herself up into a seated position.

"Eh…ok here." Carina said as she tore a long strip of cloth off of her top shirt. She quickly tied the green strip of cloth around the witch's neck, hoping that her scent on the clothing would keep the infected girl calm long enough for Carina to walk out of the freezer.

"And one last parting gift." The blonde girl said with a sad smile, pulling out her last power bar and dropping it in the pale girl's lap. "Thanks for not killing me…and…good luck I guess." With that Carina opened the freezer and slipped out trying to ignore the growing whimpers that were slipping out of the cooler and tugging at her heart.

Cautiously, Carina crept out of the back storage room and into the main store. There she spotted the young man bent over a box of candy bars. The black haired girl was busy stuffing water into her back pack.

"Uh Hello?"

Both swung around pointing their guns at Carina. "Shit…don't shoot…don't shoot!" Carina yelled her hands out in front of her as she tripped falling on her back.

"Sweet lord girl you scared the crap out of me." The male uttered letting out a soft whistle. He had a distinctly country accent.

"Have you been bitten?" the female survivor asked eyeing Carina warily. Carina took in a long breath.

"Yeah…several times. I'm immune…you guys."

"Well whata you know, she's just like us." The guy said with a smile sticking out his hand to help Carina off the ground. "Name's Keith….this pretty girl here is El."

The girl who looked to be a few years older than Carina stuck out her hand.

"I'm Danielle, but Keith got tired of yelling my full name every time an emergency happened so he shortened it to El…what's your name."

"I'm Carina…nice to meet you." The young blonde said shaking her hand and smiling

"Well Rina good to see another survivor…there anyone else here?"

Carina shook her head forcing herself not to glance at the freezer where the witch was. Instead she directed her gaze back to Keith and answered him, "No everyone I was with died, ended up holed up in the freezer when I ran out of ammo."

Carina's smile disappeared as the memories of her friends' deaths whipped through her mind.

"No worries you can come with us, never hurts to have another." Danielle said wrapping an arm around Carina's shoulder. "Besides we should get moving then…those gun shots are bound to attract some unwanted company sooner or later."

Carina nodded and started towards the front of the door. "Wait up….you might want this." Keith said tossing Carina the shotgun she had abandoned on the ground the day before. "And here's a few boxes of ammo. I had plenty in my truck for hunting. Too bad the ol girl broke down on us a week ago."

Carina said her thanks, reloaded the weapon and slung it over her shoulder. As she and her new friends left the gas station, the blonde thought she heard a small whimper from the doorway behind her. She stopped and spared a quick glance over her shoulder, failing to catch a glimpse of her witch companion. "Goodbye." She muttered as she turned and jogged a few steps to catch up with Keith and Danielle.

Inside the store, the witch stood very still in the shadows, small sobs beginning to break the silence. The infected girl reached up and touched the cloth on her neck. She stared after the three survivors until they turned a corner and disappeared from her view. A horrible fear of being left alone swept over the witch. In a panic she stumbled out of the store. The bright light of the sun struck her face making her sensitive eyes squint in pain. She let out a frustrated growl and slinked back into the shadows. All alone again, the witch collapsed in the corner of the store, head buried in her clawed hands. The small whimpers soon grew into a body wracking sob.

**Author Note: Once again thanks for reading. Please review. A special thanks to Tinkies for reviewing both chapters. It's great to get feedback so please send in those thoughts. Next chapter coming soon.**


	4. Safehouse

**Author Note: To all of you who have reviewed thank you so much. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. As always I don't own Left 4 Dead just play it a lot (:**

After several hours of sneaking and killing their way past the infected, Carina, Keith and Danielle found themselves happily secure inside a safe house. The heavy barred doors were enough to keep any of the infected at bay. Finally able to let their guard down, the exhaustion and fatigue quickly sat in.

"Dear Lord, I aint been this tired since me and my buddy Ellis bet each other who could go the longest without sleep. I won of course, three and a half days straight. And then there was this other time…."

Keith was cut off by a glare from Danielle. "As much as I love your stories, I think we all need some sleep. You can finish this one in the morning before we leave."

Seemingly satisfied with the compromise, Keith walked over to the heavy door and checked one last time, ensuring that it was indeed secure. With a contented nod the country boy walked over to one corner of the small room and lay down. A few minutes later, soft snoring could be heard as the country boy fell into the peaceful bliss that only sleep could provide.

Carina smiled, and looked over to Danielle who was quietly forming a bed out of some blankets she had found. "Who's Ellis?" Danielle let out a frustrated sigh. "He's Keith's life long partner in crime. You'll see, a day won't go by without another story about some crazy adventure that Keith and Ellis had."

"Did….did he survive?" Carina asked, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer. Danielle smiled sadly turning her gaze towards the sleeping man.

"He has no idea, Keith was here visiting some family when the infection hit. He has no idea what state his home town is in. If you ask him, he'll tell you there is no way in hell that Ellis died."

Carina nodded, "At least he still has some hope for now." Danielle nodded and then flashed a warm smile. "We still have hope you know. Even if your old loved ones are dead or zombified, doesn't mean we can't start over, make new friends, build new families."

Carina smiled. "Yeah…that's true." She said with a yawn. The girl across from her mirrored the yawn and both let out a small laugh. "I can't keep my eyes open any longer…night Rina."

"Night El." Carina muttered as sleep overtook the young girl. Peaceful sleep enveloped them all.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

Carina awoke with a start blindly reaching around for her shotgun. As she wrapped her hand around her weapon, she looked up to see Keith standing at the barred door staring out into the dark.

"What's wrong?" El asked quickly jumping to her feet rifle in hand.

"There…..there's one of em creepy clawed chicks outside. She was right next to the door and her crying woke me. She stumbled back into the dark when I jumped up to look out."

"Well shit, it's not good to have a witch around." El muttered, shaking ever so slightly. She had seen a witch carve up another survivor once. It was quick and bloody and hardly anything was left after the sobbing infected girl had snapped and sank her claws into the poor man.

Carina looked at her two friends by the door. 'A witch…why would….' She thought. "Oh crap." She muttered as she walked over to stare outside.

"There she is!" Keith said quickly pushing his shotgun through the bars and taking aim.

Carina stared out trying to see what the country boy saw. At first she didn't see anything, but then the thin sickly body of a witch could be seen as she limped her whimpering self towards the door.

"Is…is it her." Carina muttered out loud causing to Danielle to look over questioningly.

Then Carina saw it, the bandages and the green piece of cloth tied around the infected girl's neck. 'She followed me?'

"Now your close enough." Keith said.

"NO!" Carina screamed jumping towards Keith. The scream caused the witch to look up. As the blonde girl slammed into the red neck, Keith pulled the trigger sending a large blast of buck shot towards the witch.

Carina's last minute dive caused Keith's shot to push to the right. Instead of blowing a hole straight through the witch, part of the blast grazed her in the side. The witch dropped to the ground huddling into the fetal position, her sobbing becoming painful wails.

"What the hell Rina, it's a witch." Keith yelled angrily as he picked himself up off the ground.

Carina didn't even answer. She quickly grabbed one of the med packs from the safe house and quickly pulled off the metal bar that was securing the door.

"No Rina get back here…SHE'S INFECTED!." Danielle yelled as the blonde girl sprinted a few yards into the dark skidding to a stop over the witch.

The two survivors stared in horror truly expecting the witch to tear the new girl apart. The loud moans of the common infected rang out as they were drawn in by the gun blast and the witch's wailing. Keith chambered another shell. "Come on El…we got to get her back inside before the hoard comes."

Carina skidded to a stop and knelt down next to the witch, tears pouring down the college girl's face. She quickly pulled open the med kit and began applying bandages trying desperately to stop the bleeding coming from the witch's side.

Feeling the pressure on her side, the witch looked over noticing the girl standing over her. Though she was in terrible pain, the witch managed a small purr like growl. She was no longer alone. The witch began to cough spitting up some of her rancid smelling blood. Her red eyes began to roll into the back of her head as she started to go into shock.

"No….no don't die. I know you're different." Carina cried as she frantically tried to stop the blood from leaking out of the infected girl's body. She was too caught up in her work to see the hoard bearing down on her.

**Author Note: Kinda short, but this was a great place to leave the chapter. Good news is I have the next chapter already finished so it will be up hopefully a day or two after this has been posted. As always thanks for reading and please review. I'm loving the feedback so far and it does get me motivated to keep pumping out chapters.**


	5. Unexpected Side Effect

**Author Note: So the reviews have been coming in steadily and I want to say thank you for that. As promised here is the next chapter. I originally planned on this being two separate chapters, but the first one was just two short by itself. Hope you enjoy and as always, I don't own Left 4 Dead.**

The steady beeping of a pipe bomb snapped Carina back to reality. She looked up just as Keith and Danielle skidded to a stop in front of her. "Let's go." Danielle yelled trying to pull Carina away from the witch.

"No…she's still alive." Carina yelled looking at the pale witch who was barely breathing.

"Carina...leave it." Danielle yelled anger filling her voice.

The hoard momentarily distracted by the pipe bomb renewed its charge. Keith unloaded with his shot gun dropping the first infected headed toward the two arguing girls.

"Help me get her inside…please." Carina begged. Despite her reservations, Danielle gave in knowing it was the only way to get the non-infected girl back to the safe house. The two girls quickly dragged the witch inside as Keith covered their retreat.

As the country boy reached the doorway, he grabbed a Molotov and launched it at the hoard, creating a barrier of flames between the infected and the safe house. It provided just enough time for Keith to slip inside and secure the door. He turned around finding the two girls collapsed on the ground breathing heavily from the exertion of dragging the witch.

"What…what were you thinking." Keith demanded staring down his gaze shifting between the college girl and the trembling witch.

"I….I…" Carina was cut off as the witch began to shake violently as she slipped ever closer to death. Looking around desperately, Carina grabbed an adrenaline shot. Ripping off the protective cap she stabbed the needle into the infected girl's leg and depressed the plunger injecting the raw adrenaline into the witch.

Fueled by the drug, the witch suddenly stopped shaking and looked around eyeing each of the survivors. Keith raised his shotgun pointing it at the witch's face. The witch stared at Keith fear apparent in her eerie crimson eyes.

"Pl…..plea….please don't…..not…..again."

All three survivors stared in dumbfounded shock. The witch had spoken. Keith lowered the shotgun and grabbed another med kit. The three survivors working together managed to stop the bleeding and stabilize the injured witch.

The pale infected girl, overcome with exhaustion, slipped out of consciousness. Placing a blanket over her, Carina stood up leaving the witch to rest and heal.

"She….she can talk?" Danielle finally blurted out still in shock at the discovery. "Did…did you know this?" she asked her gaze resting on Carina.

"I…I didn't know she could talk, but…I've met her before….see the old bandages and the green cloth around her neck. I did that the last time we…ran across each other."

Both survivors gave their friend a confused look. Carina quickly explained her previous encounter with the witch. When she finished she looked at the witch and then back to her fellow survivors.

After a long awkward silence, Keith finally spoke up. "Well now I feel like an ass for shooting her." He muttered. "You didn't know." Danielle said trying to ease the country boy's guilt. "Besides she could turn on us at any time." Carina wanted to argue with Danielle, but she knew the girl was only voicing the fear each survivor had. Their safe house had suddenly become much less of a sanctuary.

A small whimper escaped the witch in the corner. Carina stood up and walked over sitting down next to the pale girl. She gently began stroking the infected's silver hair. "Just rest and heal….they won't hurt you anymore." Carina whispered softly. The witch let out a small purr of contentment and fell back asleep.

The three survivors huddled inside the safe house keeping watch over their infected guest. The screams of the frustrated infected kept outside barely registering in the confused and troubled minds of the immune humans inside. It was going to be a long night.

A few hours before dawn, the three survivors jumped with a start as the injured witch let out a shrill shriek. Keith instinctively grabbed for his gun sure that the witch was coming to take its revenge. When he looked up however, the witch was not charging towards him. Instead, the pale girl was gripping her wounded side her face twisted in pain.

"Danielle see if we have any pills in here?" Carina asked as she cautiously moved towards the injured infected. Seeing the movement, the witch let out a warning hiss and a low guttural growl started to emanate from her throat.

"Hey….knock it off you know me." The blonde girl said, trying only semi-successfully to keep her voice from wavering. The witch was like a wounded animal. Even the most loyal dogs would bite their master when they were scared from injury and this witch was hardly a tamed pet.

"No pills just a lot of these." Danielle whispered handing her friend several adrenaline shots. The raven haired girl stepped back not wanting to be too close in the case that the pale infected girl reacted badly to the shot.

"This will help you heal faster…its going to still hurt like hell, just not for as long." Carina said. "Now can I give you this shot?"

The witch continued growling, but studied the shot in Carina's hand. After several tense seconds, some part of the feral woman must have remembered the adrenaline shot from earlier in the night and she stopped growling and laid her head down, face still grimacing in pain.

Carina slowly crept forward and stuck the needle into the girl's leg and depressed the plunger. The witch let out a hiss at the pain, but she kept her instinct to attack at bay. As the high dose of adrenaline shot through the witch's veins, a fog seemed to lift from the infected girl's mind.

"Ca…Carina? Thank…you."

Carina stared down at the girl. Her eyes no longer held the primal look. There was now a person where the witch had been. "Why didn't you talk to me when we first met?"

The witch grimaced as her body was wracked in pain. "Could….not." She wheezed as she began to cough. Carina sat down and cradled the witch's head in her lap. Danielle and Keith came over to look at the talking infected.

"But why can you talk now….are you remembering everything?"

The witch shook her head. "No….some maybe…..you gave shot and mind became clear….I sort of remember stuff…..it's like a dream….I can't make my body talk or do what I want. The urges overpower me."

"So the adrenaline shot knocks the infection back enough that her mind can overcome the primal instincts." Danielle said voicing a guess out loud. "How long can you stay with us?" She asked the witch.

"Already….fading." The witch coughed. Carina looked into the infected girl's eyes and the primal look was slowly beginning to envelop the human side again.

"Wait…what's your name?" Keith blurted out as the witch continued to fade back into her infected self.

The witch gave a small smile. "I'm…." The name was lost in a growl as the witch once again lost the ability to speak. With a frustrated whimper the witch completely turned back into her feral self. The silver haired woman looked up with her red eyes and stared up at Carina. Slowly she raised one of her clawed hands.

All of the survivors grew tense. If the feral witch wanted to, she could easily kill Carina before anyone could stop her. As the claw raised higher in the air, Carina found herself holding her breath.

All but one of the clawed fingers curled inward leaving the witch pointing. When they looked they saw that she was pointing at a back pack. The long claw moved from the bag to the witch's mouth.

Carina let out a small laugh and took in a deep breath. "Ok…I'll see if there's anything good in there." Slowly lowering the infected girl's head to the ground, the blonde slipped over to the back pack and started rummaging around.

After several moments of digging, she pulled her hand out to reveal a snickers and a slim jim beef stick. The witch let out a purring growl at the sight of the food. Carina brought both over and let the witch sniff both items. Not surprisingly, the witch chose the beef stick. Carina handed it over and the witch devoured it wrapper and all.

With a whimper the witch pointed at the snicker's still in the college girl's hand. "No this is mine." Carina said in a soft voice as she started to unwrap the chocolate bar and bring it to her mouth. The witch let out a challenging growl and tried to move towards the candy bar. She winced in pain and fell to the ground whimpering. "Ok fine, but this is it for now." Carina said, fear evident in her voice. With a sigh, Carina finished unwrapping the candy and handed it over. The witch looked at it licking her lips in delight.

Then with a quick slice, the witch sliced the bar into several chunks. The feral girl stabbed one with a clawed finger and popped it into her mouth. With a contented growl, she quickly stabbed the remaining pieces and gobbled them down. The witch looked at Carina and let out a whimper.

"No I told you that was it." The college girl said a little frustrated with the infected girl's selfish begging. When no food came, the witch tried a different tactic. She let out a low growl and flexed her claws menacingly.

Keith grabbed his shotgun and clambered to his feet. He didn't like the angry look in the witch's eyes. "Uh…Rina you might want to move back. She looks pissed." The witch let out a louder growl and pointed at the back pack with the food then looking at Carina and flexing her claws again.

Without thinking, Carina reached out and slapped the witch across the face eliciting a surprised shriek from the infected girl. "I said no more and I mean no more damnit." Carina yelled. "And don't you growl at me again or so help me I'll let Keith put a few round in you." The witch stared in shock, but the growling ceased.

Then like a puppy that had just been smacked for disobeying its master, the infected girl let out a whimper and covered her face with her clawed hands. The soft sound of crying began to slip from the witch as she tried to drag herself closer to Carina. The witch's attempt to seek forgiveness was interrupted by a screech of pain as her wounds opened slightly and the pale infected girl curled into a ball gripping her wounded side.

"Lay back down." Carina muttered, the anger no longer present in her voice. With a soft but firm hand, the girl managed to push the witch into a laying position on the floor. "You are definitely a scary pet." She muttered softly stroking the girl's head.

Feeling the touch and realizing she had been forgiven, the witch let out a soft happy growl and closed her eyes. As the witch fell asleep, Carina glanced at the other two survivors. "What are we going to do with her?" Carina mouthed. Neither Keith or Danielle had an answer.

**Author Note: Well I hope you are still enjoying the story. Thank you for reading and please review. My real life job has me working weekends at night. This is great for writing on my days off since my sleep schedule has me awake at 3 AM. However, this means the next chapter won't be published for about 5 days or so. Don't worry it'll be up soon. Thanks again for reading.**


	6. Burning Eyes

**Author Note: You guys rock for the reviews thanks so much. As promised here is the next chapter enjoy. I don't own Left 4 Dead just this story and the fun I gain while writing it.**

What little food and water was left in the safe house did not last long. By the end of the next day, the small group of survivors were faced with once again having to move on. Most of the common infected had long given up on breaking down the safe house door. The hoard had dwindled down to only a few stubborn common infected.

As the sun rose the next morning, the group quickly dispatched the stubborn infected and set out in search of another safe house. Despite being in her feral state, the witch would not leave the survivor's side. She was determined to be a part of the group and hardly wandered more than a few feet from Carina.

Everyone was on edge having the pale infected girl walking with them. The sun was causing immense pain for the witch's eyes and she had resorted to walking around with her clawed hands covering her face. Small sobs slipped from the poor girl's throat as the group continued to move. After several minutes of sobbing, Keith just couldn't take it anymore.

"Oh dear Lord girl…..no one needs to be that depressed." He muttered, stopping and kicking in the door on a small mom and pop shop. Inside, the redneck found what he was looking for. There was a rack of sunglasses and a few hooded sweatshirts.

"Here try these on." Keith said grabbing a pair of dark tinted glasses and trying to put them on the witch's face. Eyes still in burning pain, the witch let out a hiss and shoved Keith as hard as she could sending the poor boy flying into a rack of t-shirts. The witch let out a loud sob and began flexing her claws. "NO!" Carina yelled and the witch flinched expecting a blow to come. Though no blow came, the infected girl continued to remain tense.

The witch's growls started to grow louder as she was torn between the urge to take her claws to the redneck on the ground and her fear of upsetting Carina. It was apparent that she was well on her way into working herself into a deadly frenzy.

Spotting a bag of beef jerky, Danielle quickly tossed it to Carina, who quickly slid a piece of the dehydrated meat towards the angry infected girl. For a moment the witch remained tense flexing her claws. Then the smell of the meat reached her nose and she looked down. She quickly stabbed the jerky and popped it into her mouth. The growls continued, but they were less intense and the claw flexing had ceased as the witch licked her claws trying to get all of the jerky taste.

Keith stood up with a groan. "Ok, I get the hint….El you wanna try the hoodie."

Danielle shot Keith a not in a million years look, and both glanced over at Carina. For a moment, the blonde college girl entertained the idea, but self preservation won out in the end. "Nah…I think it would just piss her off….probably make her too hot and cranky as it is. Let's rest for a moment and let her calm down."

After several more pieces of jerky, the growls stopped and the infected girl hobbled her way over into a shadowy corner where she crouched down and began to sob once again. Every once in a while she would rub at her eyes with the back of her hand trying to get the last of the burning feeling to disappear.

Daniel let out a long sigh, "Look Rina I know she saved you and all, and I know when we give her the shot she's coherent, but if we don't find a way to move her around during the day we are going to be in big trouble."

Carina nodded knowing her new friend was right. It was too dangerous to always move at night. The infected didn't seem to sleep and traveling at night just meant more darkness for smokers and hunters to jump out of. Not to mention traveling with a feral witch for a companion was hardly the first plan of survival in this new hellish world. However, knowing there was a human in there somewhere, none of the survivors had the heart to push the witch away.

"What if we give her several doses of adrenaline….maybe push back the infection for longer…maybe even for good." Danielle said throwing out another option.

There was a moment of complete silence as they thought it over. Then Carina was the first to speak. "That much adrenaline could kill her….I mean I know it would be bad for us to take too many of those shots at once."

"I'm sure she'd rather risk it and have her mind back then be stuck in a corner crying or growling for the rest of her life." Keith chimed in.

"I'm sure you're right, but I won't make the decision for her, give me one of the shots. I'll ask her myself."

Danielle tossed the shot to Carina who walked over towards the witch. Seeing the girl approach her, the feral infected let out a warning growl. "Easy….I'm not going to put anything on you, but we do need to talk." Carina said waving the syringe in her hand.

In the witch's mind, the syringe meant pain followed by quick healing. Maybe this was for her burning eyes. With a reluctant hiss, the witch stuck out a slender arm. Carina slowly approached and injected the adrenaline into the girl's arm.

The effect was immediate, the sobbing stopped and the witch began to look around as if noticing parts of the room for the first time. "I…where are we?"

"Listen very carefully, we want to inject you with a lot of adrenaline and see if it pushes the infection away for good…however it might kill you."

The witch was quiet for a moment and then let out a small laugh, "I'm tired of this….end it one way or the other." Carina was taken aback by the witch's willingness to risk her life. Then again, Carina was still human, who knows what she would be willing to risk for a chance to regain her mind.

"Okay….we will do it at the next safe house, can you make it."

The witch nodded her mind already beginning to fog over. Then her eyes lit up in a panic as she fought against the fog. The witch looked over to where Keith was standing. "Ca…Casey" she managed before her speech became low frustrated growls once again.

It took a minute to register, but Keith let out an excited whoop when it hit him. "Well nice to meet you Casey."

As the witch continued to fade back into her feral self, Danielle tossed a pair of sunglasses over to Carina who quickly slipped them on. Casey reached up to swipe at them, but Carina caught her clawed hand. "Just give it a chance."

With that she led the witch outside. When her eyes didn't burn as much, Casey gave a small purr of approval. The group continued on. Fortunately, they ran into only a few small hoards along the way. They were quickly dispatched without winding up the infected girl into a killing frenzy. As night began to fall, the small group of survivors found a safe house. Going inside, they barred the door.

In the quick search of the supplies, Danielle found some chest paddles. "Just in case." She said them putting them over to the side. None of the survivors felt like eating knowing that there was a very real chance that they were about to kill Casey. The three sat for several minutes; the only sound was the small sobs escaping from Casey who was huddled in a corner.

"Let's get this over with yall." Keith said standing and grabbing the five adrenaline shots they had scrounged together.

Carina took the shots and looked over at Casey who was curled up in a ball sobbing, still locked in whatever nightmare caused her to cry all the time. 'God don't let me kill her.' The college girl silently prayed. She looked over at Danielle "Okay… go ahead and charge those paddles, we might as well be ready for the worst."

The raven haired girl nodded and grabbed the small device setting it on the floor. The infected girl looked up from her sobbing as the three survivors approached her. She let out a confused growl until Carina held up the adrenaline shots. The witch stuck her arm out knowing that something good always happened when she was given these shots.

Carina removed the caps from each shot and handed two to Keith. "I'll need you to put two in so we can get them in as close to all at once as possible." Keith nodded and took the shots. Then with a quick countdown, Carina and Keith stabbed their syringes into the witch's arms and depressed the plungers. Carina quickly grabbed the fifth shot and injected it into Casey's leg. The adrenaline took effect immediately and Casey's eyes once again changed from primal to human.

"Did….did it work?" Casey asked as the fog cleared from her mind. "We'll soon find out." Carina said her voice tense as she sat down next to the infected girl. Casey smiled looking around. The fog was not returning this time. "I…I think it's working." Before anyone could respond, the infected girl's eyes lit with panic as she felt something was going horribly wrong. "Something's wrong." Casey shrieked in fear.

"El paddles!" Carina yelled as Casey started convulsing on the ground. Carina grabbed ahold of the witch trying to keep her thrashing body in one place. Suddenly Casey's body went terribly limp. "EL!" Carina yelled tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes.

Danielle rushed forward feeling for a pulse. When there was none, she quickly ripped the small amount of fabric that was the witch's shirt off and placed the paddles on her chest. Carina jumped back.

"Clear!" The shock jolted the witch's body, but no heartbeat registered. "Again!" Carina yelled and again Casey was shocked with no response. Keith let out a small curse and began to pace the room.

"Come on Casey wake up…..don't let it win….don't give up." Carina yelled the tears flowing freely now. "There's only enough juice for one more try." El said in a choked voice as she depressed the button sending the final shock through the witch's body.

**Author Note: CLIFF HANGER. I know I'm cruel. Please review. I hope to have the next chapter up before I go to work Thursday night. **


	7. Memories

**Author Note: So as promised I'm getting this chapter up before Thursday night. Thanks so much to everyone who is reading and reviewing. All the reviews are great and really keep me motivated to knock out more chapters. As always I don't own left for dead. Enjoy (:**

For several seconds nothing happened. And then the smallest of beeps was heard slowly repeating itself as Casey's heart began to pump of its own accord. Carina bent down over the infected girl and began to slightly pat her face. "Come on. Wake up."

With a soft moan, Casey opened her eyes. The three survivors gathered around her waiting for her to speak. The infected girl let out a low growl as her mind slowly crawled it's way out of death's grip. Casey slowly looked at each of them and then looked down at herself. After several seconds that seemed like an eternity, Casey uttered her first words.

"Where's my shirt?" She shrieked quickly covering herself with her clawed hands.

Keith blushed hard and quickly turned away to give Casey her privacy. He had been too focused on whether Casey was alive or dead that he hadn't noticed the lack of shirt until she mentioned it.

"Oh sorry, we had to pull that off to use the paddles." Danielle said with a small laugh. Here put this on, she said grabbing a camouflage shirt off a shelf in the safe house. Casey slowly sat up and looked at the shirt and then at her claws.

"umm….I'm going to need help." She muttered tears of frustration forming in her eyes. Carina and Danielle quickly assisted the witch with the shirt which only received a few minor cuts from the claws as it was slipped on. The girls let Keith know it was safe to turn around again.

"So how do you feel?" Danielle asked.

Casey took in a deep breath and stared at her clawed hands. "I…I don't know….I'm glad I can talk, but I'm really sad and I don't even know why because I have my mind back but I just have this overwhelming urge to cry." Casey suddenly burst into her eerie sobbing.

"Well I guess we regained your ability to talk, but some of the virus effects are still….well still intact." El muttered.

The witch nodded still quietly sobbing unable to fight off at least this one urge left by the infection. Carina carefully draped a blanket over Casey's shoulders and took a seat next to her.

"Ok…that's it no more moping around I have a story to tell and you all promised I could." Keith said.

"Story?" Casey said looking up her sobbing slowly quieting down.

"Yep, well you didn't promise, but it's a good one so just listen." Before the infected girl could respond, Keith dove right in.

"You see there was this one time that me and my buddy Ellis decided to see if we could survive in the woods using just a knife and a hatchet. You know like that Man vs Wild guy. Well during the day we had built ourselves a nice little shelter out of tree limbs and even built a fire pit. What we didn't expect was how cold it was going to get that night."

"Here we go." Danielle muttered, though her coy smile betrayed the fact that she truly enjoyed hearing Keith's stories. Keith merely flashed her a grin and continued.

"Anyways, about half way through the night, Ellis woke up because he was shivering so much and his mind was starting to play tricks on him. He told me he could see clowns waving at us. I guess that was normal though cause of the hypothermia setting in."

"Hypothermia?" Carina gasped in surprise. Even Casey managed a concerned questioning look, her sobbing having stopped now that she was wrapped up in the story.

"You bet, you know when you get all cold and stuff. Well I offered to build a fire, but Ellis kept muttering he wouldn't make it. I finally had to half carry him through the woods to my parents' house. We had to keep him wrapped up in one of them heating blankets for a day before he stopped shivering. I'm still not sure he has complete feeling in all his fingers."

Keith gave a big country smile signaling the end of the story. The girls were quiet for a bit before Casey finally spoke up. "Wh….why were you not cold?"

"Well you see, I'd put two layers of clothes on before we left into the woods. I didn't know Ellis hadn't prepared for the cold till he started shivering and waving back at the non-existent clowns." Keith's tone suddenly grew serious. "I…I sure hope he and everyone back home are ok."

"I'm sure they are." Danielle said taking a seat next to her friend. She grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around them. "Yeah…I bet you're right." Keith muttered as he wrapped an arm around El and pulled her in close. The two yawned and it was only a matter of minutes before they fell asleep huddled together.

"Were…were they an item you know….before?" Casey whispered. Carina stared at the two for a moment. "I don't know, they were with each other when they found me in the store."

Casey nodded her gaze falling on her clawed hands. "Guess there's no going back huh." She muttered, tears beginning to fall as soft sobs began to escape her throat.

"Hey…hey, none of that okay?" the college girl said as she used the blanket around the witch's shoulders to wipe at the tears.

"You know what the last thing my mother told me was?" Carina said leaning back against the wall. Casey swiped at her eyes a couple of times and then shook her head waiting for the college girl to continue.

"It was the morning that the infection hit and everything went to hell. I was in my room crying because I had just looked at my credit card bill and realized someone had stolen my card number and had been using it for a while racking up an insane bill. You know devastating stuff for a girl who used to love to shop."

"End of the world stuff." Casey said with a small laugh. The blonde girl nodded not missing the irony in the statement.

"My mother came into my room and said something that has kept me going every day I've been in this crazy infected apocalypse."

"What'd she say?" the infected girl asked her heart pleading to hear something that would make the pain go away.

"Mom simply looked at me and said that it's not about money or possessions, but it's the friends and family you surround yourself with that are the true riches in life. Clothes will come and go, but the memories you have made with others will last a lifetime."

The words had an effect on the witch. For a moment there was silence and then Casey broke down crying. There were no small sobs this time, but heavy weeping. The college girl looked on in shock. "What's wrong? I'm sorry."

Casey shook her head, "No….its not you…..its that you've managed to survive because of the memories of your friends and family right?"

Carina nodded in agreement. "Well its….its that I don't remember much about anyone from my past." Casey sobbed. "In truth, I can remember my name, and things like when you mentioned shopping I can see myself in a mall looking at clothes, but when you mentioned your mother and family and friends…..I…..I can't see anyone. I've lost them…..and their memories, everyone I knew before the infection…is…is gone to me."

Carina quickly wrapped the witch up in a hug. "I'm so sorry….If I'd known I wouldn't have told my stupid story."

"You were just trying to help." Casey muttered burying her head in her claws.

"Come on I have an idea." The blonde girl said grabbing the witch's clawed hands and pulling her to her feet.

"You said you can remember shopping right? Well let's go shopping together." Casey looked at Carina like she had lost her mind, but the sobbing quieted down into small hiccups.

"Where?"

Carina led Casey over to a pile of clothes that had been left in the safe house. "Let's start here. I hear they have good deals. Besides you might want some pants to go with that shirt."

Casey looked down and let out a gasp as she realized she was still wearing the tattered underwear she had been found in. "Yeah shopping would be good." She said quickly.

The two girls quickly sifted through the pile of clothes. Casey let out a soft purr of approval as she found a camouflage pair of pants with an elastic band. Buttons and zippers were too hard to manipulate with her long claws, so the elastic fit her needs perfectly. Discarding the dirty undergarment, Casey quickly slipped into the pants and let out another soft purr as the clean cloth settled against her skin.

"You still purr." Carina said laughing a bit. The silver haired girl let out a small nervous laugh, "New habit I guess….here try this." She said tossing a black t-shirt to Carina. The shirt fit the blonde well and she quickly traded it for the bloody and torn shirt she had been wearing.

"There's one."

"One what?" Casey asked confused.

"One memory of spending time with a friend. We'll add more tomorrow, but for now I've got to sleep."

The two girls found spots on the floor and settled down to go to sleep. The last thing Carina heard before she slipped out of consciousness was Casey's whispered 'thank you.'

**Author Note: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. To all of you wondering where the zombie killing has gone don't worry more coming in the next chapter. Please review and feel free to mention what you like or don't like about where the story is going.**

**Special Author Note: The story Keith tells about him and Ellis is actually a true event from my past. Me and a buddy actually tried to camp out using nothing but an axe and a knife. I'm Keith and my friend had the bout with hypothermia. Even the clown's waving at him actually happened. Hypothermia is a funny and scary thing. Next chapter will be up within a week I hope.**


	8. Not a Morning Person

**Author Note: Happy Memorial Day! I've spent the last few days camping and kayaking so sorry for the delay. Hope you enjoy this chapter and as always please review. No soy dueno de Left 4 Dead.**

When morning came, Casey had still not fallen asleep. Despite all her efforts, she seemed to be cursed with the insomnia that plagued all of the infected. Seeing the sun poking through the bars in the heavy steel door to the safe house, the witch let out a frustrated growl throwing up her hands to shield off the bright light.

After several failed attempts at blocking out the sunlight, the infected girl curled up in a ball on the ground and hid under her blanket. She finally felt herself slipping towards some semblance of sleep when she felt a hand gently shaking her.

"Come on time to wake up. We got to get moving."

Carina frowned as a half-hearted hiss escaped from underneath the covers. "It's impossible to wake up when you haven't slept yet." Casey growled from her dark sanctuary. She was very content under the blankets and had half a mind to spend the daylight portion of the day happily curled up in the dark.

"C'mon Case….the hoard is starting to form outside. If we don't leave now we may never leave." Keith said sliding the sunglasses they had used the day before under the blanket. After several moments of silence, the witch emerged from her cave with the sunglasses on.

"Let's get this over with." Casey muttered walking towards the heavy metal door. One of the common infected let out a growl as he tried in vain to claw his way through the door. "Shut up!" Casey growled slamming her clawed hand through the gap in the bars and impaling the zombie's head. With a quick flex of her fingers, the common infected was decapitated.

The three survivors stood still, too shocked to say anything. Suddenly realizing she was the center of everyone's focus, Casey turned around a somewhat sheepish look on her face. "Not a morning person I guess." She said laughing nervously quickly turning away feeling embarrassed but not quite sure why.

The three humans nodded and Keith walked over and removed the bar on the door without saying a word. The small group walked out into the sunlight and set off in search of a new place to crash.

Several hours into the journey, it had become quite apparent, that the urge to break down and cry was not the only side effect left over from the infection. All the noise from gunfire and the screams of the infected had put Casey in a very dark and angry mood. Like her more traditional witch sisters, it was becoming increasingly easier to piss her off. Twice Carina had been forced to double back when the witch had disappeared. Both times, she had found the infected girl slicing her way through the common infected huddled in a corner out of the way.

"Casey….you can leave them, we need to keep moving." Carina pleaded, the second time she had found the witch covered in blood with a very unnerving grin plastered across her pale face.

"Oh….okay….I just wanted to make sure they didn't come after us." Casey muttered looking down at her claws as if noticing the blood for the first time. Tears began to form in the corner of the witch's eyes. "I'm….I'm a monster aren't I?" she said looking up with fear filled eyes her emotions drained from the bi-polar shifts the infection was throwing at her.

Before Carina could respond, a loud scream rang out. It was Daniel. Both girls tore off around the corner in search for their friends. As they rounded a second corner, they saw the raven haired girl hanging several feet off the ground choking as she was constricted by a smoker's tongue.

A loud bellowing roar caused them both to glance to the right just in time to see a charger plow into Keith pinning him against the wall.

"Get El!" Carina yelled running towards Keith. She unloaded her shotgun into the charger hoping to bring him down before the red neck was pummeled to death. The charger managed to slam Keith against the wall twice before Carina's barrage caused the special infected to slump to the ground.

"We…get El." Keith said wincing in pain as he tried to stand. He managed three steps before the pain in his side forced him to a knee. Despite several cracked ribs, the country boy tried again to stand and only made it a few feet before the pain once again forced him to the ground.

"Casey is helping Danielle." Carina said as she slipped Keith's arm around her shoulder and helped him to his feet. The two slowly limped their way back. As they rounded the corner, they found Danielle huddled in a corner still shaken from the ordeal.

"Where's Casey?"

Danielle simply pointed towards the roof. A loud growl rang out and a sickly green puff of smoke billowed over the top of the roof. Minutes later, the witch emerged fresh blood dripping down her face.

"He won't hurt you again." Casey growled a very feral look in her eyes as she glanced around looking for a new threat. Then the witch's eyes fell upon Keith and his injury. The human side of Casey was worried about how much he was grimacing in pain. The infected side of her was growing antsy at the sight and smell of the fresh human blood slowly oozing out of his numerous cuts.

'God he looks tasty.' Casey froze at the thought and grabbed the sides of her head letting out a shriek. Frantically looking around, the infected girl did the only thing she could think to do. She ran. If she could get far enough away, the smell of fresh blood might not cause her infected instincts to overpower her human side that was fighting desperately to stay in control.

"CASEY!" Carina yelled as the witch took off running. Spying what appeared to be a safe house door several blocks away the blonde dragged Danielle to her feet. "Come one we got to get Keith inside."

Carina desperately wanted to leave Keith in Danielle's hands and take off after Casey. But both of her fellow survivors were too out of it from their close calls to truly be able to defend themselves. After ten minutes of cursing, limping and dragging their way to the safe house, all three collapsed inside.

Carina quickly made sure that Keith and Danielle each had reloaded weapons and headed for the door. She paused to switch out her shotgun for an assault rifle and grabbed an extra med pack. As she pulled the bar off the door she looked at her two friends.

"Bar the door behind me. If we aren't back by morning assume we're dead." There was no time for goodbyes and truly none of them wanted to say them anyways. Goodbye meant you might not see each other again. Carina opened the door and disappeared into the street as the sun began to set. She quickly took off on a jog towards where she had last seen her infected friend run disappear into the shadows.

**Author Note: Thanks for reading and please review. Your feedback is very helpful especially as I add new dynamics to Casey and her fight to stay in control of herself.**


	9. Enticing

**Author Note: Next chapter is here. I hope you enjoy it. I had to re-write this chapter a few times before it got to where I felt it was acceptable. Sorry for the slight delay. I don't own Left 4 dead. Enjoy (:**

The sun had finally set and the darkness brought relief to the witch huddled inside a small house. With no sunlight to burn her eyes, Casey walked out onto the small porch letting the cool night breeze hit her in the face. The wind gently blew her silver hair into her eyes and the infected girl raised her hand to brush it to the side. She stopped when she saw that her claws were covered in blood.

'I'm more dangerous to them than the regular infected. They trust me.'

Casey shook her head and plopped down on the stairs leading up the porch and into the house. Lowering her head into her clawed hands, she began to sob. 'At least this time I know why I'm crying. I'm all alone again.'

Carina was growing more and more desperate the farther she traveled from the safe house. Three times she had been attacked by some common infected that she hadn't even seen in the dark until they were lunging at her. Luckily the common infected were rather dumb and easily pushed to the side and shot. If she ran across a hunter or smoker, the college girl knew she was done for.

"Damn it Casey where are you?"

A low growl from her right made the girl turn. Out of the shadows another common infected rushed her. Surprised by how close it was, Carina opened fire without aiming. In hindsight it was the worst possible thing to do. Her first two shots went wide and struck a car setting off the alarm inside. The third shot killed the infected man, but the damage was done. A chorus of roars and growls rang out as the hoard formed and started rushing towards the car.

'I'm screwed.'

Carina let out a panicked scream and took off running, firing blindly behind her hoping that she would find a place to hide before she was ripped to shreds. The infected began to swarm in and their growls were growing louder. Just as the blonde reached for the door of a house, the distinct shriek of a hunter rang out behind her. Before Carina could turn, it slammed into her, shoving them both through the house door. The impact of the door dislodged the hunter and Carina scrambled to her feet and took off running through the house. The angry snarl of the hunter from behind caused another scared whimper to escape the girl. She made it to the back of the house before the hunter slammed into her sending them both through a window and into the back yard.

This time the hunter maintained his grip and began ripping at every part of Carina's body with his short claws. The blonde let out a loud scream as she tried desperately to fight the hunter off of her.

Casey had been inside her house when she heard three shots from a rifle. 'Surely they weren't dumb enough to come after me at night.' Then the car alarm went off and all hell broke loose only a few blocks away.

The witch really wanted to stay in the security of her hiding spot, however the howl of the other infected forced her to her feet. If it was her friends they were in trouble and they could use her help.

As Casey neared the commotion, she heard a loud crash and the frustrated shriek of a hunter. A sick feeling started to form in the witch's gut. She took off at a jog towards the house. As she neared the front, shoving the common infected out of the way, there was a second crash, a window this time.

Then there was a loud shriek.

"CARINA!" Casey cried out in a vicious shriek as she sprinted into the house. She jumped through the broken window to find the hunter tearing into her friend.

"Get off of her!"

The witch slammed full force into the beast. Too focused on his prey, the hooded infected barely managed a surprised shriek before he was slammed to the ground. The hunter lashed out with his short claws catching Casey across the face. The infected girl hardly noticed the wound as she slammed her claws in and out of the hunter below her. With a loud gurgling moan, the jumping infected went limp. Casey turned to see the common infected pouring over the fence and out of the house. She quickly placed herself over her wounded friend and let out a ferocious snarl. One infected female wandered too close to Carina and was dispatched by the witch's claws. A few of the other infected pushed forward and were quickly sliced to pieces. Seeing their common brethren fall, the rest stayed back unsure whether to press forward or give up the prey to the witch.

"Leave her alone." The infected girl growled. Then the smell of Carina's blood hit Casey causing the witch's head to spin.

"She's mine." Casey yelled, not totally sure she meant mine as in friend or mine as in food.

Knowing it was certain death for Carina if she ran, Casey grabbed her friend and dragged her to the next house. Inside she found a basement and quickly carried her friend down the stairs. The other infected pushed towards the door, but Casey slammed it shut and barricaded it eliciting several frustrated moans from those left outside. The silver haired girl wanted desperately to check on her friend, but the blood was too enticing.

"Ca….Casey are….you….here?" Carina sobbed as her body was racked in pain from the numerous gashes across her body.

"Yes." Casey hissed as she looked around the basement frantic for something to tie herself up with so she wouldn't attack Carina.

"Will…you come….here….I don't want to be alone….it hurts a lot."

"NO!" Casey shrieked stumbling back knocking over a small can of paint. The paint spilled and for a moment the infected girl could not smell the blood. The moment's reprieve gave the witch a chance to move farther away from her fallen friend.

"Casey?" Carina whimpered as she tried to sit up. She grabbed an adrenaline shot and stabbed it into her leg. The rush dulled the pain and caused the fogginess from her injuries to leave for a moment.

"Casey what's wrong?"

The witch purposely spilled another can of paint on the ground forming a barrier between herself and the blonde girl.

"Your….blood. It….it smells….good." Casey said grabbing her head in her claws as she collapsed to the ground and began rocking in the corner.

Suddenly the pieces fell into place. 'She wasn't running away, she was trying to protect us and now I've made it worse.' Carina thought to herself.

Seeing the med pack, Carina began to wrap her wounds the best she could. After bandaging her wounds, Carina sank to the ground exhausted. The adrenaline shot was wearing off and the pain and fatigue from loss of blood was setting in. She spared one last glance towards Casey.

"See….you….in the morning…I trust you." She muttered as she passed out.

"You might but I don't" the infected girl muttered spilling another can of paint on the floor. She looked down at her hands and realized they were covered in Carina's blood from when she had half carried her into the basement. A shiver ran up the witch's spine at the sight of the blood.

Unable to stop herself anymore, the infected girl began to lick the still warm blood from her claws. Finally tasting the blood the witch let out a small purring growl. When she had licked her hands clean, the reality of what she had just enjoyed began to sink in. Casey let out a wail and collapsed to the ground. She couldn't take it anymore, the lack of sleep, the truth of what she really was, and seeing all of her friends injured in the same day finally overwhelmed the witch. She felt herself losing her grip as the urge to feed continued to grow inside her. Unsure how to stop it, Casey began to shake with fear. Her sobbing grew louder as she stared across the basement at her unconscious friend.

After several minutes the sobbing began to quiet down. Then for a moment there was complete silence in the dimly lit basement. The silver haired girl began to purr as a smile crossed her face and she slowly licked her lips.

**Author Note: This was a fun chapter to write. Please review, I really could use some feedback on what you guys think about how this chapter ended. Got a few days off from work so hopefully the next chapter will be up soon.**


	10. Test of Frienship

**Author Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing guys. It's been great. I planned to have this chapter up sooner, but a death of a friend sidelined my writing so thanks for the patience. Hope you enjoy guys.**

Carina awoke her entire stomach and chest were ablaze underneath the bandages that covered most of her upper half. Her cuts had become inflamed while she slept and now it was all the young woman could do to sit up.

"Cas….Casey?"

"CASEY!" Carina screamed as she looked around not finding her friend. Just as despair was beginning to take hold of her, the blonde girl saw something in the far dark corner move. There was a rustling sound and the witch poked her head out from under the tarp she had been hiding under.

"I'm…..I'm so sorry Carina." Casey said breaking down and crying. "If I could control myself I wouldn't…I wouldn't….."

The young college girl tried to scoot across the floor towards the witch, but her wounds protested sending a shockwave of pain that doubled Carina over onto her side.

"You wouldn't what?"

For several moments, the witch remained very still wrapping the tattered tarp around her. Then with a choking cry, Casey pointed toward her friend's left arm. "I wouldn't have….your arm."

Carina looked to where the infected girl was pointing and saw a poorly wrapped bandage around her left bicep. Looking at the wound, the blonde felt the pain for the first time. Whatever had happened to her arm the wound had been deep.

'It feels like something took a chunk out of my arm.' Carina thought as she slowly undid the bandage to inspect her injury. As her eyes fell upon the wound, Casey let out a sorrowful wail.

"I…I couldn't stop myself….I'm so sorry Carina…please forgive me."

Carina stared at her injured arm in stunned silence. There was a large gash where something had taken a good sized bite. Her arm might heal, but there would be scars if not permanent damage to the muscle. Carina looked up at the witch who was staring at her full of fear.

"You….you bit me? I mean you ate me?"

The witch nodded, "I tried to stop myself, please forgive me, please forgive me, please…." Casey pleaded as she stood and walked towards the injured college girl.

"NO! STAY AWAY!" Carina yelled trying to scoot away from the infected girl fear and anger fighting each other for dominance.

The words hit Casey like a train causing her knees to buckle. "But….I'm sorry….and we….we are friends…right?" The witch stammered as tears began to flow from her eyes.

"Friends….friends don't eat each other Casey. I thought you were better. I thought…I thought you could be trusted. I…" Carina's reply was cut off as she coughed hard spitting out some blood onto the ground.

"It was an accident." Casey whispered having no heart to argue when she knew Carina was right. She tried to walk towards Carina, but the injured girl whimpered in fear and tried to crawl away. There was only one thing that could be done now. The witch stopped moving forward her heart ripping to pieces.

"Goodbye Carina…I'm so sorry." Casey muttered as she wiped the tears from her eyes. The witch walked to the basement door and placed a clawed hand on the door knob. She spared one last glance at her former friend. "It was nice of you to try and save me….some things just can't be helped I guess." With that Casey opened the door and slipped out into the main part of the house.

Carina heard some loud bangs as Casey most likely placed a few pieces of furniture in front of the door to keep the common infected from tearing it down. Then there was a loud sorrowful wail that grew fainter every passing minute. Eventually there was no more sobbing outside the door and Carina knew that once again she was truly alone.

Tears running down her cheeks, Carina collapsed to the floor in exhaustion. She stared at the ceiling of the basement, remembering first finding Casey, getting her to talk with the adrenaline shots, and the joy when they had brought her back from the grave to find she had 'beaten' the infection.

"Damn it all." The injured girl muttered. "Damn it all."

Three days. It took three days for Carina to heal enough that she could move. Every moment of the last 72 hours had been spent reliving every moment since she had met Casey. Besides the few moments of dreamless sleep, her mind was constantly searching through every memory she had of the infected girl, painstakingly searching for something that would have been a clue that it would go so horribly wrong.

With a loud groan, the young blonde girl pushed herself to her feet. She had only one chance for survival. She had to make it back to the safe house. Odds were Danielle and Keith had moved on, but she had to know for sure. Casey was no longer an ally. Carina was once again alone.

"C'mon girl, you've come too far to give up now." She muttered to herself.

Grabbing a small axe from the basement, Carina hobbled her way towards the door. Her muscles were stiff and her stomach and chest still ached from where wounds were just beginning to stay closed. Opening the door inward, Carina was faced with a small pile of furniture.

Though Carina knew that the barricade before her was the witch's last attempt to protect her, the college girl let out a string of curses as she began to move the furniture. After half an hour, she had managed to move a desk and small book shelf to the side enough to provide a small gap to crawl her way to freedom.

What Carina saw when she stepped out surprised her. Scattered all about the house were the mutilated bodies of the common infected. Carina limped her way outside and stepped into the sun. After several minutes of blinking and squinting, her eyes adjusted to the bright mid-day sunlight. Scattered about the road were the remains of several common infected. Like those she had found inside the house, these had long slashes across their bodies.

'She lost it once she left. She's given completely over to the infection again.'

Carina started making her way towards the safe house that was several blocks away. Though it was a short walk, the injured girl's weakened body began to give out. As Carina neared the heavy red door with the barred window, the distinctive shriek of an infected human rang out. Carina turned to spot two common infected running down the street towards her.

"Damn it this door better open." Carina said reaching the door and giving it a hard tug. Nothing happened.

"Oh C'mon you piece of shit!" She yelled as the door barely budged with her next pull. Knowing that she didn't have the strength to fight off the two approaching infected Carina put all her strength into one final pull.

With a loud creak, the heavy steel door pulled open. Carina slipped inside dragging the heavy door behind her and barring the door shut. The blonde collapsed to the ground panting in exhaustion as the two infected slammed into the door with frustrated howls.

Pain shooting through her chest, Carina reached towards her bandages and found something sticky on her hands. Pulling her hand to her face she realized that at least one of her gashes had opened up again causing the white gauze to turn red with her blood.

Finding a fresh med pack and a bottle of pills, Carina went to work. The pills dulled the pain and allowed her to replace the old bandages. The bleeding slowed down and eventually came to a stop. Taking a quick swig of some water, Carina laid her head down on the cold concrete and stared at the wall. There she saw the message left for her and tears sprang to her eyes.

'**Carina, Casey, we waited as long as we could. Radio said that the military is extracting survivors from the baseball stadium on the East side of town. We've headed for extraction. Good luck. –Keith and Danielle '**

'Yep I'm alone.' Carina thought to herself as sleep gripped her body and dragged her out of consciousness.

**Author Note: Thanks again to everyone for reading. Reviews are always appreciated. I've got the ending in mind, but there are most likely several more chapters before we get to that point so keep checking back, next chapter will hopefully be up within a week.**


	11. Moving Forward

**Author Note: Sorry for the wait, life got a little hectic. Enjoy….I don't own Left 4 dead.**

Darkness. Sweet and beautiful darkness was what met her eyes when she opened them. There was no intense burning caused by the sunlight. She was no longer forced to travel during the day.

'A small benefit I suppose.'

Casey thought to herself as she stood and stretched slowly walking towards the front of the small convenient store that Carina had found her in an eternity ago. The infected girl stood in the door way and stared out at the street. A sense of deja vu hit the silver haired girl.

The memory of standing there and watching Carina walk away with Danielle and Keith slowly came to mind. The memory was not very clear. None of the memories from before Casey's mind was 'freed' ever were. It was like remembering the scene from a movie seen long ago. You can remember what happened, but it feels like details are just missing.

'I was stupid to follow her. How could I have thought there was any place for me among them.'

Casey let out a sad sigh and took a few hesitant steps into the street. She was hungry and she needed food. Despite the reservations of the witch's human mind, Casey set out in search of fresh meat. There were few survivors still about, and the witch was still not keen on the idea of eating another human. The last time had been an accident and it had cost her everything.

There were other sources of fresh meat though. For some reason the common infected had their simple minds set solely on eating the uninfected humans. They had for the most part left the dogs and cats in the town alone.

After several minutes of walking, Casey turned a corner and was greeted with a low growl. The witch smiled and flexed her long claws. With a shriek, she lunged forward. A loud yelp rang out as the stray dog was silenced. Casey quickly dragged the mutt into the shadows behind a dumpster. The common infected ignored the dogs, but the witch had seen a few hunters resort to killing the canines when the more preferred food source had run scarce.

With a happy purr, the witch sank her teeth into the still warm body. 'Oh that tastes good.' Casey thought as she relished the taste of fresh blood. From the end of the alley, the distinct clicking sound of claws on concrete rang out. The witch looked up staring down the intruder with her blood red eyes.

"You wait your turn pest." Casey growled.

The hunter let out a low growl from under the hood that covered his head, but shrank back against the wall resigned to wait for scraps instead of fighting the female infected. After several minutes, the witch had eaten her fill. She picked up the carcass that still had some meat clinging to the bones.

"Here you go you lazy brute. Eat up" She said tossing the left overs towards the hunter. With a pleased shriek, the special infected made a quick leap, catching the carcass and quickly disappeared up the wall and onto the roof of a nearby building. The witch stared at the roof of the building for several moments and then turned to head back.

As Casey headed back to her new sad little home in the back of the store, her thoughts once again centered around the blonde college girl. When Casey had ran out of the basement, she had fell into a frenzy as she lost control of her emotions. She had ended up slaughtering a lot of the common infected gathered around in her fit of rage. When she had finally settled down, Casey had made her way to the safe house in hopes of telling Keith and Danielle where Carina was.

Casey had found the message they had left on the wall and knew that she wasn't going to be the only one left alone in the city. Knowing Carina would return to the safe house, Casey had quickly left.

The witch didn't even bother to wipe away the tears that streamed down her face as she entered the convenient store and walked into the back room and into the empty freezer. She slumped into a heap on the ground and began to sob. Laying her head on the ground, Casey began breathing in halted gasps for air as she cried uncontrollably. Suddenly a familiar scent registered in her nose.

The witch's crying slowed down as she sniffed around the freezer floor. She reached a clawed hand out and found the source of the smell. Pulling her hand to her face, Casey held up the wrapper to a candy bar. Another fuzzy memory of Carina shoving a candy bar into her mouth surfaced and the witch let out a sorrowful wail. She curled up in the back corner of the freezer, clutching the wrapper tightly to her chest like a child would a small stuffed toy.

Many blocks away, Carina sat in a corner clutching as well. Instead of a wrapper, the blonde girl was clutching her side. She had awoken after several hours of fitful sleep. Not having eaten in days, she had quickly scarfed down several meals worth of rations from the safe house supplies.

Now the sudden feast had left Carina's stomach doing flips and it was taking everything for the young survivor to keep the food from making a reappearance. She let out a soft moan as her stomach made another plea to resurface the meal.

Carina's moans were answered by the common infected that had gathered out the safe house door drawn in by the uninfected girl's groaning protests to her stomach. One infected male pressed his head against the bars and let out a growl. Then with a gurgling sound, the infected male coughed up some bloody bile that slowly streamed down the inside of the steel door.

'Oh you suck.' Carina thought as her stomach did two flips and she started to gag. One more look at the inside of the door and she lost her battle with her insides. After several minutes of puking up everything she had just eaten, Carina collapsed to the ground shaking slightly from exhaustion.

The young blonde went to prop herself up with her arm and winced at the pain from the movement. She glanced at the bandage on her arm and was once again filled with both anger and sorrow.

"What's going to happen to us Casey?" She muttered. Though she was still angry at the infected girl, there was an immense sense of loss as well. Carina let out a low sigh as her anger became dulled as her loneliness took over.

A few tears tried to slip out of the corner of the college girl's eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. She managed not to cry. It wasn't that she didn't feel grief at having loss the witch as a friend or from being separated from Keith and Danielle most likely forever. No it was that Carina had finally reached the end of her emotional rope. She didn't cry because she was all cried out.

'Tomorrow I'll head to the baseball stadium. At least see if the others made it out.'

With a new plan slowly taking form, Carina grabbed a shotgun and pulled it close to her chest. With the comfort of her weapon nearby, she closed her eyes and fell into a restless sleep.

**Author Note: The chapter is pretty short and for that I apologize. Life got hectic and I've had several days in the last week where I got maybe 2 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period. I wanted to write more, but felt it would be just slop with the amount of sleep I had. No worries more to come and soon. Thanks for reading and a special thanks to all my faithful reviewers. **


	12. Hunting

**Author Note: This chapter is a thank you to everyone who has read and a special thanks to those who reviewed and kept me pumped to put out more chapters. I really got in a writing mood the other night so another chapter is already here. I don't own left 4 dead….but please enjoy my story (:**

Carina awoke with a groan as she stretched her stiff muscles. With a yawn, she forced herself to her feet and started gathering up any supplies she could carry. Finding a small back pack, she stuffed several med packs, a few bottles of water and the three remaining power bars she had inside. Walking over to the table of guns, she grabbed an assault rifle and stuffed a few magazines of ammo into the top of the backpack.

Last of all, the college girl grabbed a pistol off of the table, checked to make sure it was loaded and walked to the door. She looked outside and let out a small string of curses. She had slept far longer than she had planned to. Instead of waking up at mid-morning with hours of sunlight to travel by, it was already almost Dusk. Carina spared a glance around the safe house for a moment contemplating staying another night.

'No if I don't go now, odds are I'll just stay in here till I starve. It's now or never.'

Her mind resolved, Carina removed the bar and opened the door for the first time in several days. A small wave of panic washed over the college girl as her feet stepped over the door threshold and she was once again out on the street. This would be the first time she set out on a journey alone in this apocalyptic world. Alone with no hope of finding a friend until she reached the stadium on the other side of the town.

For a brief moment, the blonde almost ran back into the safe house and locked the door. Then the moan of a hungry common infected broke her train of thought. She looked up to find a small group of three infected males and two infected females lumbering towards her. With relative ease, Carina brought the rifle up and stared down the sights. As the first infected head appeared at the other end, she tapped the trigger sending a small three round burst down the street.

The burst blew through the head of the male infected and slammed him backwards tripping up the two females. The two other male infected continued their charge and Carina let go two more bursts. A few more short bursts later and all of the infected lay in pools of their own blood and bile.

The college girl quickly reloaded the rifle and set out east towards the stadium. If she hurried she could find a safe house before it became completely dark.

Casey let out a frustrated growl as she stared outside. Her stomach answered back with a more ferocious growl and the witch let out a sigh. She hated walking outside when it wasn't completely dark, but she was extremely hungry and the hunger was quickly winning over the protest from her eyes.

Finding a pair of sunglasses at the front of the store, Casey put them on and stepped out into the waning sunlight. As she started her slow walk through the street, a familiar tapping sound followed behind her. Casey turned to see the hunter she had fed the night before walking behind her keeping his distance.

The witch had heard the hunter pacing around the store as she tried to sleep during the day. She had been worried at first that the jumping infected male was waiting for her to fall asleep so he could attack. However, after several hours of the hunter keeping its distance, Casey had begun to view the creature as a skiddish dog looking for a free meal.

The infected female continued her slow walk until she heard a growl from a side alley. As she turned the corner, the witch smiled at what she saw. There in the alley, a dog had a cat trapped on top of a trash dumpster. Both were so focused on the other that they hardly noticed the two special infected before it was too late.

Once she was close enough, Casey dove towards the dog impaling the mutt with her claws. Seeing its foe dispatched, the cat made a beeline towards the street only to be snatched up by a quick pounce from the hunter. The male infected let out a happy growl as he tore into the feline flesh.

Seeing the hunter eat reminded Casey of her hunger and she sank her sharp pointed teeth into the dog, quickly spitting out the fur and diving into the sweet warm meat below. Distracted by eating, Casey hardly noticed when the hunter stopped consuming his small meal. It wasn't until he let out an excited shriek and climbed the wall of the nearest building that the new smell caught her attention.

'An uninfected human? A real feast for the hunter….but not for me.' Casey thought as she turned back to her meal of dog. Then the wind brought another whiff to the witch's nose and what she smelled made the infected girl choke on her bite of meat.

There was no mistaking her former friend's scent. Carina was nearby and the hunter had just left to try and kill her.

"Oh Shit!" Casey screamed as she took off after the hunter trying desperately to follow his movements as he jumped from building to building with ease. The witch was in such a hurry, she didn't even bother to put down the dog she was eating.

Carina was proud of herself. She was making good progress and had crossed about a fourth of the distance to the stadium. There had been a few tense moments when she had to make some quick shots as a larger group of the common infected had swarmed, but overall the journey was proving to be less strenuous then she had anticipated.

Then she spotted it. There at the far end of a shopping center was the distinctive barred door of a safe house. With the hope of a safe place to rest, Carina broke into a jog. She had almost reached the door when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. The sunlight being all but gone, Carina swung her rifle and flashlight to where she had seen the movement.

"Well I didn't expect you." She said as she started backing away from the creature covered in blood. A low growl rose from the creature's throat as it winced from the bright light shining in its face. Carina continued slowly backing up trying to work her way to the safe house before the blood stained beast in front of her decided to attack.

"Just stay there for a minute…you let me get to this door and I won't shoot you okay?"

"Carina! Behind you!" Casey yelled as she watched her former friend backing away in fear. She had somehow beat the hunter to Carina and now found herself on the dangerous end of a rifle pointed at her chest.

The college girl stared at Casey for a moment and started to turn but it was too late. The hunter had been waiting knowing that his human prey always tried to go behind the barred door. The jumping infected slammed into Carina knocking her to the ground. The hunter managed one half swipe at Carina drawing some blood from her back before a loud shriek caused the hunter to leap back in fear. Casey flung the dog she had been carrying towards the hunter who begrudgingly accepted the lesser quality meat and stormed off into the dark not willing to brave the witch's wrath. Casey turned back towards Carina and started to walk towards her, trying desperately to block out the scent of fresh human blood.

Carina looked up to find that the witch was now bearing down on her. 'No doubt the scent of my blood has driven her into a frenzy.' Carina tried to stand and got to a knee. There was no time to grab the rifle so the blonde girl pulled the pistol from her behind her back.

"I'm sorry." She screamed as she pulled the trigger.

Casey let out a shriek of surprise and pain as Carina pulled a pistol and fired two shots. The witch felt two hot lead bullets tear through her right shoulder and she slammed to the ground writhing in agony.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry, but I can't let you eat me." Carina cried as she collapsed to a seated position a few feet away.

"I was….trying….to save you." Casey growled through clenched teeth as she pressed her left clawed hand tightly against her bleeding shoulder.

"I….I…." Carina stammered but she was at a loss of what to say. There was a loud moan as several of the common infected were quickly making their way towards the sound of the gun shots.

"Just get….to the safe house."

"But what about….."

"They want you not me you idiot!" Casey yelled cutting off the blonde girl. "Now run."

Carina grabbed her back pack and rifle and sprinted for the safe house door. She quickly jumped inside and slammed the door shut. When she looked back outside, Casey was nowhere to be seen.

No longer worried for her own safety, the uninfected girl's emotions crashed down upon her. Anger and confusion were prevalent, but the most heavy emotion was guilt. She had just shot Casey.

'She was saving me not hunting me.'

Carina collapsed to the ground ignoring the pain in her back she did the only thing that felt right. She let out a scream that would rival any witch's shriek. She didn't stop screaming until her voice was gone. For the first time since the infection began, Carina questioned if she really wanted to survive.

**Author Note: The next chapter should be up in a week or so. Thanks for reading and as always please review so I know what you guys are thinking. **


	13. Covered In Blood

**Author Note: So you guys rock for all the reviews and hits on the story. Thanks a bunch. Here is the next chapter enjoy. As always, I don't own Left 4 Dead.**

Casey stumbled through the dark streets clutching her wounded shoulder. She spared a glance at where her clawed hand was still pressed tightly to the wound.

'Not good I can't get it to stop.' Casey thought as she watched her blood continue to trickle through her claws.

The witch was beginning to feel light headed from the pain and the blood loss. There was only one way that she would not end up bleeding out in the street. The infected girl let out a whimper as she turned around and headed back the way she had come leaning on the walls of buildings as she went.

Even though it was dark, Carina could not sleep. So when the loud crash of something slamming into the safe house door rang out, the college girl let out a hoarse squeal of surprise. Jumping to her feet, Carina grabbed her rifle and slowly approached the door. As she got closer there was a faint whimper from the other side. Carefully peering through the bars, Carina let out a gasp.

Collapsed on the other side of the door was Casey. The witch slowly tilted her head and the two girls locked eyes. For a moment neither said anything as their gaze was locked. Tears rolling down her face, the witch broke the silence.

"I….I can't stop…..bleeding." Casey whimpered.

In that moment, all of Carina's anger and fear went out the window. Collapsed before her was not a witch, nor a monster. No before her was her friend who was dying from wounds she had inflicted.

Carina flung the heavy door open and tossed a pipe bomb far out into the street. The angry moans of the horde rang out as they chased after the deadly explosive. The blonde reached down and grabbed Casey under her arms and began to drag her inside. The witch let out a shriek at the pain of being moved. Her screams were momentarily drowned out as the pipe bomb exploded sending bits of common infected in all directions. With one final heave, Carina pulled Casey through the door and secured it before any of the infected could get inside. With the door secure, she turned around and got her first good look at the witch in the light of the safe house.

"Oh God I'm so sorry." Carina gasped as she realized that the witch's shirt was drenched in her own blood.

"Please…help." the infected girl begged in a whispered voice. It was all she could do to stay conscious.

"I will…I will, just don't die on me Casey." Carina cried as she scrambled around for her supplies. She quickly grabbed an adrenaline shot and stabbed it into the witch's leg. The adrenaline only had a small effect as Casey continued to slowly bleed out.

Reaching for a med pack, Carina began wrapping the front and back of the witch's shoulder in pressure bandages. Casey gasped as a wave of pain shot through her shoulder and down her body. The witch began to shiver as she teetered on the edge of going into shock.

"Rina…I'm…sorry…don't hate me."

Carina grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around the witch. She slowly slid to a sitting position on the ground and gently began cradling the witch's head in her lap.

"I…I don't hate you. I never did, I was just mad…and hurt…and confused." Carina whispered as she ran her fingers through Casey's silver hair.

"You…for…forgive?" Casey muttered as she began to slip from consciousness. Carina pulled the witch more into her lap and wrapped her arms around her in an effort to keep her warm as the shock from blood loss began to set in.

"Of course I do…. you are my friend….my best friend." Carina whispered as tears slowly streamed down her face. "Please forgive me too." She whispered into the infected girl's ear.

Casey smiled and closed her eyes. "All…already have."

Carina let out a small laugh and hugged the girl in her arms. "We'll go find Danielle and Keith once you heal and get our family back together. How's that sound?"

There was no answer from the witch and a tight fear gripped Carina's heart in its icy clutches. "Casey?" the college girl whimpered staring at her friend. The witch was very still, but there was still the slight rise and fall of her chest as she took slow shallow breaths.

Carina let out a sigh of relief. Her friend was still alive just out of it. Too worried to move the witch, Carina propped herself up against the wall and closed her eyes. After several minutes, she fell asleep, her arms still protectively wrapped around Casey's sleeping form.

Casey slowly opened her eyes and let out a hiss at the bright sunlight that hit her in the face. She carefully tried to sit up and only managed to shift her body slightly before her strength gave out.

"Carina?" the witch called out in a hoarse whisper. When there was no answer, the infected girl began to panic. 'Did she leave? Did she change her mind and leave before I woke up?' A few tears began to fill Casey's eyes and she could not help but begin to sob. It quickly grew into the eerie wails that were trademark of the witch.

Suddenly the safe house door flung open and Carina burst in throwing a sack to the ground. She slammed the door shut and rushed to her friend's side.

"What's wrong Casey? Do you need some pain pills?"

Seeing and hearing her friend, the witch's cries slowed down into gulping sobs. When these too slowed down, Casey closed her eyes.

"I…I thought you had left. I woke up and you were gone….and I…I.."

Carina bent down and gave her friend's clawed hand a squeeze. "Nah…I didn't leave, I just went out to get us some food. You've been out for a solid day and a half."

At the mention of food, the witch's stomach let out a loud rumble. A look of worry crossed her face. "Um…Rina I don't know if….well if power bars will cure my….urges anymore." Casey said looking down at the ground unable to look her friend in the eyes.

"Kinda what I figured, so that's why I went hunting." the college girl said with a smile.

Casey gave her friend a questioning look. She shifted her gaze as Carina walked over to the bag and pulled something out. "I got him around the corner. I don't know if you like it or not, but I think I saw you had what looked like a dog the other night before I…..well shot you." This time it was the blonde who could not look her friend in the eyes.

"It will do just fine." The infected girl said with a slight purr.

She tried to sit up but once again collapsed to the ground. Seeing her struggles, Carina set down the kill and helped her friend into a seated position propped up against the wall.

"umm….do you want me to cook it or….do you like it raw."

Casey looked at the cat and then at the ground. "I'd prefer it raw….if it won't gross you out." She muttered a little embarrassed at what she found appetizing now. There were a few quick cutting and ripping sounds.

"Well that makes it easy….dinner is served." Carina said plopping the skinned cat in Casey's lap.

The witch reached with her good arm and found that after several tries, she was able to grab the dead animal and pull it to her mouth. She started to take a bite and then looked up at Carina. Worry began to set in. 'What will she think when I start tearing into it?'

"Just go ahead and eat. I don't mind." Carina said as she turned her focus to a can of beans she was trying to open.

With a sigh, the witch took her first bite. The fresh blood quickly filled her mouth and the witch let out a contented growl. It didn't take long for the infected girl to devour her food, leaving nothing but the bones stripped clean of meat.

Her stomach full, Casey began to feel some of her strength return. She shifted her body so she could turn and see what Carina was doing. There she found her friend happily eating her own meal. The witch let out a small sigh of relief. Carina did not appear disgusted with her for eating like a starved animal. The college girl looked up and let out a small laugh.

"What?" Casey asked a little hurt.

"You….you're covered, you sure you got some in your mouth right?"

The witch couldn't help but smile as she began to wipe the fresh blood from her face. "Yeah a little bit I think."

Feeling thirsty, Casey tried to stand, but only managed to get to her feet before her knees began to wobble and she lowered herself back down to the ground. "Ok, not really recovered yet."

Carina rolled a bottle of water across the floor. "We'll wait a few more days until you are able to move and then I figure we can head to that baseball stadium on the east side of town. Did you see Keith's note for us?"

The witch took a long gulp of water and nodded. "Yeah, I figured you would head there eventually. You think they got out?"

Both girls sat in contemplative silence for a few minutes. "Only one way to find out." Carina said, "Besides, you know Keith will find a way to keep himself and Danielle safe. What was that song a while back, 'Country boys will survive'?

The witch let out a snort of amusement, "He does embody that song." The two laughed until a shocked look came over Casey's face. Carina stared at her friend with worry.

"Is…is everything okay?"

Casey looked up a small smile forming on her lips. "Uh…yeah it's just that….I remember listening to that song with a boy. Mike…Matt…something like that. I…I have a memory from my past…at least a partial one." Casey exclaimed her voice full of excitement.

"That's great." Carina laughed. Casey nodded, if it weren't for her injuries she would be jumping for joy.

"Maybe I'll remember more, maybe I'll find out who I am." Casey said her last excited words turning into a long yawn. She was still weak from her wounds and the healing process was quickly draining her of the strength regained from the meal.

"Sleep, we'll see if we can't get you walking around a little tomorrow." Carina said happy for her friend's new hope.

The witch smiled. "I just have one request."

"Sure what is it?"

"Please be here when I wake up. I…I don't like being alone, despite how the other witches act."

"No problem. I won't go hunt until after you wake up. Now get some rest." Carina said and smiled as her friend practically fell asleep as she finished her last word.

The college girl turned to a city map and slowly began figuring out the best route to the baseball stadium.

**Author Note: Hoped you liked it. Please review. I got a very busy next four days so it will most likely be around a week before the next chapter is posted.**


	14. Smokers

**Author Note: So sorry guys for the delay, I got hit hard by writer's block and really had to think about where I was going with the story. As always I don't own Left 4 Dead, Just Casey, Carina, and Danielle. Enjoy.**

It was several days later when the sky outside of the safe house was overcast and threatening of rain. Casey had woken up early in the morning and managed to get to her feet without much trouble. Seeing the cloudy sky a small smile spread across the witch's face.

"Hey wake up, we should leave today."

Carina let out an unintelligible moan and rolled over wrapping the covers around her tightly. "C'mon wake up Rina." The witch muttered shaking the college girl until she finally opened her eyes.

"What the hell, why can't I sleep, I thought we were going to let you rest another day or two." The blonde girl grumbled from beneath her blanket.

The witch shook her head back and forth and pointed outside. "Nah I'll push on if we can leave today, look its cloudy so there's no bright sun to burn my eyes. We can both travel comfortably during the day."

With a groan, the blonde stretched and set about gathering up the gear she was going to take with her. A few med packs and adrenaline shots went into a back pack that was topped off with some bottles of water and a few power bars. Carina looked at her assault rifle and set it to the side in favor of a combat shotgun. If things got bad, she would need all the heavy hitting power of the shotgun, especially if they had the misfortune to run across a tank.

Casey also grabbed a small bag and loaded it full of ammunition and some dried strips of dog meat she had wrapped in a cloth a few days ago. There was no way for the witch to handle a gun with her long claws, but extra ammunition for Carina could never hurt.

The two girls exited the small safe house that had been their home for almost a week. Carina took a look at her map and they set off towards the stadium. The two girls quietly picked their way through the empty street hoping to avoid fighting as much as possible. There were a few small clumps of the common infected wandering about the street. However, with a little patience the two girls were able to sneak by without triggering a feeding frenzy.

Carina paused at an intersection and studied the map. "Ok, it looks like we have to go four blocks to the north and then head East again on…."

The college girl's sentence turned into a choked shriek as a smoker's tongue wrapped around her throat and pulled her off her feet. Casey let out a hiss and chased after her friend as she was pulled around a corner.

"Wrong prey." Casey growled as she saw the smoker and charged. A loud shriek rang out and a hunter launched himself from the top of a building and slammed hard into the witch sending her slamming to the ground.

"GET OFF!" the silver haired girl yelled as she tried to swipe the hunter away with her claws. The hunter dodged and jumped back inside the girl's reach managing a few swipes across her chest. Casey let out a hiss of frustration and used all her strength to roll herself. Suddenly finding the witch on top of him, the hunter let out a surprised shriek. The cry soon became a bloody gurgle as the infected girl plunged her claws into the other infected's throat.

Casey turned to run towards Carina when a loud blast caused the witch to flinch. A greenish smoke filled the alley. Limping towards where the smoker had been, the witch could hear gasps for air.

"Carina?"

"I'm…I'm over here." The college girl coughed as she pumped the shotgun chambering a fresh round. She had managed to keep a hold of her weapon as she was being dragged. When the smoker had stopped pulling to attack, the blonde had managed to shove the shotgun barrel in his mouth and pull the trigger.

"Where I can't see any…ouch." Casey muttered as she tripped over Carina's legs and fell to the ground.

Both girls sat there for a moment panting to catch their breath. Then the angry shouts of a nearby horde of common infected rang out.

"We've got to move." Carina groaned as she scrambled to her feet. She pulled her friend up which brought a pain filled hiss from the witch's lips. Carina shot her a questioning look as the smoke began to fade.

"I'm…fine…for now….we can't stay here anyways." Casey muttered. She let out a groan as the college girl took off on a slow jog. It was all the witch could do to keep up with the pain in her chest and head from the hunter attack.

After several minutes of running, Casey realized she was having trouble catching her breath. Hearing the change in her friend's breathing, Carina led them into a mechanic's shop and closed the door.

"We'll rest here for a minute."

A minute was all the time the infected girl had before two common infected came crashing through the front glass window. With the cold efficiency of someone who had done it a hundred times before, Carina quickly dispatched the attackers with two quick blasts of her shot gun.

The girls limped their way out the back of the store and into another alley. Spotting a red arrow painted on the side of a building, the two turned right and jogged towards what they hoped was still a safe house.

'Damn it, we're moving in the wrong direction.' Carina screamed in her head. The loud moans of the horde forming behind them, quickly reminded her that they really had no other option. Seeing the horde closing in, the college girl pulled out a Molotov and handed it to the witch.

"If they get close block their way with this, I have to reload."

The two girls darted to the left as another arrow pointed the way; the adrenaline pumping through their bodies easily overcoming the pain from their injuries.

Hearing the retching sound of a smoker shooting its tongue, Casey shoved Carina to the side causing the special infected to miss his target. The witch turned and slashed part of the tongue as it slowly recoiled back to its owner. Seeing the horde closing in, the silver haired girl let the Molotov fly.

The explosion put up a wall of flame that the horde slammed into. A few emerged out the other side completely engulfed, but quickly fell to the ground in a sizzling heap.

"Casey over here." Carina yelled as she found the barred door and let out a sigh of relief. The witch made it inside and secured the door. Both girls collapsed to the ground exhausted.

"Oh wow this sucks." Casey moaned as she looked down at her stomach. There were several scratches slowly oozing blood. The new wounds made a crisscross pattern with the newly formed scars from her previous wounds.

The college girl walked over to her friend and pulled out a med pack and went about the all too familiar routine of patching themselves up.

"So how far are we?" Casey asked as she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes.

Carina stared at her map for a few minutes. "If we don't run into too much trouble, we should be able to reach the stadium in a day. I just hope that radio works."

Casey let out a small laugh, "Yeah, but no use worrying about that till we actually make it there."

Carina nodded with a smile and began rummaging through the safe house in search of something to make for dinner.

**Author Note: Hey guys the story is going to be coming to an end in either the next 2 or 3 chapters depending on how I space it out. The next chapter will probably be up in a week or so. Thanks to all of you for reading and please review…I love feedback (:**


	15. Stadium

**Author Note: This chapter was written in the Bahamas after a day of lounging on the beach. So now you know why it took so long to post it, internet was not free at the resort so had to wait until I got back to the USA. Enjoy and as always Left 4 Dead belong to Valve, I own Casey and Carina (:**

The two girls collapsed against a wall gasping to catch their breath. "So much for not running into trouble." Casey groaned.

Carina was too winded to say anything and just shook her head in agreement as she quickly reloaded her shot gun. A chorus of angry moans had both girls on their feet again as the horde rounded the corner spotting their prey. The horde had formed moments after the two had exited the safe house. A smoker had shot his tongue at Casey. Hearing the retching noise, the witch had ducked and the long slippery lasso had shot over her head. Unfortunately for the infected girl and her blonde friend, the smoker's tongue had slammed into the car behind Casey and broken the window setting off the alarm. After that all hell had broken loose and they had been on the run from a mass of angry infected ever since.

"We…can't…run….forever." The college girl panted as she plowed her way through a door and into a two story building that had once been the offices of some small law firm.

"I know…we…got to lose them now…OH SHIT!" The infected girl said as three common infected charged at her out of a dark side office. With a frustrated yell, Casey slammed a clawed hand into the first two infected. Her claws sank into the chests of her victim up to her wrists. Though it stopped the two, Casey immediately realized her mistake. With both of her hands occupied buried in her victims, she had no way to intercept the third infected who plowed into her knocking them all to the ground.

The witch let out a shriek of surprise as she hit the ground hard. The infected on top of her reared its head back and bared its teeth. Casey tried to move her arms but they were still weighed down by the dying infected impaled on her claws. Realizing the witch was defenseless, the common infected let out a victorious growl and plunged his head towards the silver haired girl's throat.

Casey cringed and shut her eyes tight. Her face became coated with a wet sticky substance that she could only imagine was her own blood. A little part of her was surprised that there was no pain as the infected ripped out her throat.

"Casey get up!"

The witch opened her eyes to find a headless infected collapsed on top of her. She had not even heard the shots from the blonde girl's pistol that had reduced her attacker's head into mush.

Carina quickly ran to her friend and pulled her free from her dead infected captors. Casey stared at Carina for a moment, tears forming in her eyes. "I….I…."

"I know…save it for later, we got to move." Carina said. Her words were direct but there was a soft understanding tone in her voice. As the two started to move, the witch spotted something of use.

"Hold on one second." She yelled as she sprinted into the shadows and returned holding a small propane tank from the law offices small kitchen stove.

Carina nodded and the two quickly picked their way through the building. From behind the angry horde released frustrated groans at having momentarily lost sight of their food. A few wandered into the office building, but it would take time for them to stumble their way through each room before realizing that the two girls were gone.

When Casey stepped outside into the street she let out a hiss as the waning evening sunlight hit her in the eyes. Her sunglasses were long gone and her eyes now burned with the bright light. She stumbled along trying to avoid looking at anything but Carina's feet in front of her. She was so focused on the ground that she bumped into the college girl when she suddenly came to a stop.

"What's wrong?" the witch whispered as she clutched the propane tank tightly.

"We…we're here, but we have company." Carina whispered back.

The infected girl set down the tank and shielded her eyes with her hands. She groaned as she spotted a small horde gathered at the entrance of the baseball stadium. The extraction a week ago had attracted a lot of the infected to the stadium.

"I can't believe this there's no way we'll make it through all of them." Carina groaned as the two hunched down behind a car.

"What if we don't have to?" the witch said a slight purr finishing her sentence. As her friend looked over at her, Casey pointed to a car several blocks away that had the distinct blinking light of an armed alarm.

"We can use that to draw them in and then use the tank to blow them sky high."

"It might work, we just need to be far enough away not to be in the path of the horde as they come charging down the road."

The two friends quickly carried the propane tank over to the car and set it down. Looking around, they finally decided to climb a fire escape to the roof of a nearby building. Both girls nodded at each other and Casey chunked a loose brick over the edge and through the car's windshield.

The alarm rang out piercing the quiet of the abandoned city. A chorus of roars and moans rang out as the horde turned their focus on the new noise that surely promised a possible meal to appease their ravenous appetites.

Carina loaded a slug into her shot gun and carefully lined up her sights on the propane tank. Casey stood over her carefully keeping an eye out for any hunters or smokers who might be using the roof tops. For once the two caught a break and none of the special infected outside of a loan spitter mixed in among the horde appeared.

Exhaling slowly, the college girl pulled the trigger sending the heavy projectile towards its target. Less than a second later, the street below turned into a giant fire ball. The flames licked the edge of the roof and would have singed Carina if the witch had not pulled her away as soon as she heard the shot gun blast.

The two girls quickly made their way to the street and ran for the stadium. A few of the infected remained, but they were quickly eliminated as Carina cleared a path with blasts from her shot gun and Casey kept the others at bay with her claws. The witch was careful to only slash at their attackers not wanting to repeat her earlier near death experience by impaling the infected.

After several minutes of running and fighting, Carina and Casey reached the stadium entrance. The two quickly made their way to the press box and locked themselves inside. The door was not as strong as a safe house door, but it would hold for a while if they were attacked. Out on the field, a few infected stumbled around, but paid no attention to the press box.

Casey slid down against the wall and rested her head between her knees while Carina went to work on the radio. After several tries, the college girl managed to get it to turn on. She took in a deep breath and pressed down the transmit button.

"Um….hello, this is Carina. Me and my friend Casey need pick up….is anyone there?"

There was a long silence on the other end. The college girl took another deep breath trying to push down the panic and tried again.

"Hello….is anyone out there? If you can hear this please respond."

Another long period of silence greeted the two exhausted friends.

"Anyone?" Carina pleaded over the radio dropping her head in defeat. She walked over and slumped down next to Casey a few tears rolling down her cheeks.

"R..na….that…you? Hot Damn….thought….gonners. El….I….still alive and man we were worried, but now….ouch hey stop it."

Carina and Casey jumped to their feet and gathered around the radio. From the other end of the radio they could hear Keith arguing with someone and then apologizing. Then Danielle's voice came across the radio.

"Sorry about that, you know Keith he would've talked forever and never let you respond. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, a little banged up, but we're good for now. Where are you guys?" Carina asked.

A deep sigh came across the radio. "We were with a military unit, but they were over run a few days ago." There was another pause. "Me, Keith and a chopper pilot made it out on one of the helicopters as the base fell. It'll take some convincing, but we'll try to get the pilot to find a place to refuel and then come pick you two up. Can you hold out for a little while?"

Carina looked at Casey who nodded. "Yeah El we will hold out here, just don't take too long."

"We'll be there as soon as we can, but you better be ready to move quick, the helicopter attracts them from miles around, we barely made it out when we were extracted."

There was a pause and Danielle came back over the radio. "Stay by the radio, we'll let you know when we are on our way. We'll check back in a few hours….stay safe you two."

"You too." Carina said and stepped away from the radio.

The college girl turned and looked at the silver haired infected girl beside her. Smiles spread across their faces and they wrapped each other up in a tight hug.

"We're almost out of here." Carina sighed and the two slowly pulled themselves apart. Fatigue quickly set in and both girls found spots on the floor and closed their eyes. Casey watched Carina fall asleep and then yawned herself and closed her eyes. As she fell asleep one thought ran through her mind over and over again.

'But where will we go?'

**Author Note: Hope you enjoyed it. If you have a spare moment, please review. Next chapter to come soon and will either be the next to last chapter or one really long final chapter.**


	16. Extraction

**Author Note: Thanks to all my readers. Enjoy (: As always I don't own L4D, just my characters.**

"Come in…..you….still there?...Someone pick up the radio….RINA….CASEY!"

The blonde college girl shot up wide awake and scrambled to the radio frantically fumbling for the transmit button.

"Yeah…yeah we're here."

There was a pause on the other end and then the long sigh of someone letting out a breath they had been holding.

"Rina it's El, we just fueled up we should be there in ten minutes. Sorry for the short notice but there's a storm headed our way and if we don't get you now it could be days before we get another shot."

A groan from behind her caused Carina to turn around. She shot the sleepy witch a smile and turned her attention back to the radio. "That's fine can't wait to see you guys. We'll be ready when you get here. You're landing in the middle of the field I take it?"

"10-4, when we touch down make your run for us we'll hold them off from the helicopter until you're on board."

"Will do El, see you soon."

Carina put down the radio and began packing her back pack with ammo and other supplies. She didn't even notice Casey approach the radio until she started talking.

"Hey…umm…El you still there?"

"Casey…is that you?" The other girl said, "It's good to hear your voice."

The witch smiled, "Umm….does your pilot know about me?"

"Yeah Case, we told him about you and he said he has no problem bringing you along."

Danielle left out that it had taken hours of convincing and a whole box of cigars that Keith had found to win over the pilot.

"Now get ready, we are…..5 minutes out."

Casey acknowledged the ETA and looked around the press box. There was really nothing left for the infected girl to do but wait. A few lonely moans of the infected on the field below filtered up to the witch's ears. They were not a threat yet, but they would have to be dealt with soon enough.

Carina spared a glance at her watch. "It's almost time….you ready?" Casey nodded that she was. "Good take these." The witch reached out her hand and the blonde placed several pipe bombs in her clawed hands.

Before Casey could say anything, the low thrumming of chopper blades broke the silence.

"We are approaching the stadium and it looks like we have a pretty good size horde following our noise…you better move quick."

Outside the moans of the infected grew louder. Casey could hear the rising roar in the distance of what sounded like hundreds of common infected surging towards the stadium. Her heart began to beat quickly and adrenaline started dumping into her blood stream.

"I…I can hear them….there's too many Rina…we have to move now."

"But the chopper's not here yet."

"It's close, but I can hear so many, if we don't start now we will never make it."

The college girl nodded and kicked open the door to the press box and unloaded her shot gun into three infected that rushed up the stands towards her. The roar of the infected grew louder and for the first time she too could hear them. It sounded like a wave crashing down throughout the city. The icy hand of fear gripped her heart. This was not going to be an easy fight.

The hiss of her infected friend brought her mind back to the fight as Casey stepped in front of her and sliced through an infected female who was rushing up the stairs. Seeing their fresh prey emerge from hiding, the twenty common infected scattered about the stadium rushed towards the two girls.

The two girls ran down the stairs slashing and blasting anything in their way. Half way down, a male infected caught Carina in the middle of reloading and tackled her down the stairs and into Casey. The three bounced the rest of the way until they collided with the small brick wall at the bottom.

"Ow you son of a bitch!" Carina screamed as the infected male sank his teeth into her arm. Casey reached out with her claws and quickly sliced the infected off of her friend. Carina jumped to her feet ignoring the blood flowing down her arm. There was not time to patch wounds, the helicopter had just cleared the stadium and was beginning to touch down.

Casey took a few steps and then collapsed with a shriek of pain. She looked at her right ankle and realized that there was an extra bump on the side. Her ankle was broken. Carina turned and ran back to her friend.

"C'mon get up we got to get moving." As she started to grab for the witch, the wave of infected poured over the stadium walls.

"MOVE YOUR ASSES!" Keith yelled as the helicopter touched down.

Casey looked at the helicopter and then at Carina. "Go…you can make it if you leave me."

The college girl looked down at the witch. "Not Happening." She yelled jerking the silver haired girl to her feet. The witch let out a whimper as pain shot through her ankle. The two began a frantic limp filled scramble for the helicopter.

The horde was swarming over the stadium walls and rushing towards the helicopter from all sides. Danielle jumped out of the helicopter and let a Molotov fly creating a temporary wall of fire between the horde and the right side of the chopper.

"Pipe….bomb." Carina gasped as she half dragged Casey across the field. The witch fumbled for the pipe bombs she had with her. She quickly armed them and dropped them to the ground. There was no time to stop and throw.

The two girls stumbled forward in a desperate attempt to get out of range of the blast. Suddenly the beeping noise stopped and the ground behind the fleeing girls erupted into flame. The explosion threw Casey and Carina forward several feet slamming them hard to the ground.

Carina shook her head as she tried to push herself to her feet. Her vision was blurry but quickly clearing. Forcing herself to a knee, she could see Keith leaning out of the helicopter firing away with an assault rifle and yelling at them to get aboard. 'It should be loud, but I can barely hear anything.' Carina thought to herself.

A clawed hand grabbed her leg and forced everything back into focus. The blonde girl looked down and locked eyes with the infected girl clinging to her. There was a large piece of metal lodged in Casey's left shoulder.

Carina turned to the helicopter. "KEITH HELP ME!"

Hearing Carina's cries and seeing Casey down, Keith jumped out of the helicopter. "El cover us." Danielle nodded and tossed a molotov to the country boy.

Keith ran the several yards to the girls and let the flaming bottle fly. The angry infected that survived the blast suddenly found themselves engulfed in flames. Keith pushed Carina towards the helicopter and scooped Casey up in his arms. He turned and started running towards the open side door. As he closed the distance, a small smile crept across his face at the sight of Danielle firing out the door.

The pilot kicked the rotors into full gear in preparation for takeoff. Carina neared the door and Danielle extended her hand and pulled the college girl inside. Carina turned to say something to Danielle when she was hit in the face by a warm spray. The blonde girl wiped at her face and locked eyes with the girl in front of her.

There was a shocked panicked look on Danielle's face. Carina's eyes tracked down and she screamed reaching for her pistol. She quickly drew the firearm and blasted away at the hunter that had leapt over the dying wall of flames and made a successful swipe at Danielle's throat. The bullets ripped through the hunter's skull sending it crashing out of the helicopter.

Danielle's hands went to her throat as she tried desperately to stop the flow of blood rushing out of her neck. She collapsed onto the deck of the helicopter gasping in a sickly gurgling sound as she tried in vain to draw in a breath.

Keith saw Danielle collapse as he reached the helicopter. He quickly pushed Casey inside and jumped in. Everyone on board, the pilot immediately took off and headed away from the city. Keith knelt down beside the dying girl and gently took her hand.

"It's…..It's going to be okay El." Keith muttered tears streaming down his face.

Danielle coughed sending a spurt of blood across Keith's face. Unable to speak she removed her hand from her severed throat and raised it to the country boy's face and gently brushed his cheek. Through all the hell she had endured since the infection, Keith had been her constant companion. 'It could be worse, at least he's here.' She thought as Keith grabbed her hand. Closing her eyes, El gave into the sleep and let the pain fade away for good.

"El…El…come on El….dammit El." Keith muttered as he sat still clinging to his dead friend's hand. Carina collapsed on the deck sobbing. The helicopter turned forcing some of the pooled blood to run towards the back of the helicopter. It wasn't until she heard the witch's moans and hyperventilating that the blonde girl remembered that Casey was injured as well.

"Casey are you okay?" Carina asked rushing to her friend's side.

"No….blood….too….much…blood." Casey hissed through clenched teeth. She gave Carina a panicked filled look. "I….it's too much….I can't stay myself." The witch let out a groan and started to drag herself to the open door as the helicopter soared over a forest.

"CASEY NO!" Carina yelled diving on top of her friend who let out a frustrated shriek as she tried to get to the opening.

"Let me go…I'll kill you all if I revert back again…you know that better than anyone. Just let me end this….I can't have you die….not at my own hands."

Carina shook her head and grabbed Casey around the waist and pulled her back towards the rear of the helicopter. She stumbled backwards and fell into a seated position, Casey landing in her lap.

"Keith shut the doors!"

Hearing Carina's yell the country boy quickly slid the two doors shut and slid to a seated position on the deck.

Seeing the doors close, Casey let out a loud shriek. "Why Carina….why I don't want to hurt you?"

The college girl wrapped her arms around the witch pinning the witch's arms to her side. Carina buried her head in the witch's silver hair.

"I already lost one friend…I'm not going to lose another. You can beat this. Don't let the urge overtake you."

"But….but you…you both look so….tasty." Casey whimpered.

"I'll fix you whatever you want when we land. Cat, Dog, whatever just hang on."

The witch shook violently, but the college girl would not let her go. "I…I don't know if I can." Casey whimpered.

Casey closed her eyes and tried desperately to think of anything but fresh blood. The smell was intoxicating and the taste was priceless. 'Taste? Oh God No!' Casey screamed in her mind as she felt a large chunk of meat in her mouth and felt the fresh blood oozing down her throat.

The witch opened her eyes afraid to find Carina missing a large chunk of something. Instead, the silver haired girl, found Keith in front of her reaching into a bag and pulling out another large strip of beef jerky. He quickly dipped the meat in the pulled blood and shoved it into her mouth.

After several more strips of blood soaked meat, Casey's urge to hunt passed, and she collapsed into Carina's arms crying.

"It's okay. I'm sure El wouldn't mind knowing it was saving you and all." Keith whispered. He placed the half empty bag of beef jerky at Casey's feet and headed towards the cockpit to talk with the pilot.

The infected girl watched him go through tear filled eyes.

"Oh Carina…El…El's dead." Casey cried as the realization finally hit her.

Carina gently stroked Casey's silver hair as the two mourned the loss of their friend. After twenty minutes, the helicopter began its decent towards whatever lay ahead.

**AN: Thanks for reading don't forget the epilogue.**


	17. Epilogue

**Author Note: Short little epilogue. Thanks for reading and enjoy. Still don't own L4D.**

Casey let out a loud groan as she opened her eyes. She tried to stretch, but let out a hiss as the movement painfully tugged at the stitches in her shoulder.

"You should probably still lay down for a while you know."

The witch turned her attention to the country boy who was packing up his back pack full of food and ammo. With another groan, the infected girl forced herself to her feet. It had been a week since the helicopter had landed close to a large cabin high up in some mountains. Casey's broken ankle had been set, but it was still too early to put much weight on it.

"Nah, I'm tired of lying around. Besides I have to see you off."

When the helicopter had first landed, Keith had carried Casey into the cabin. There Carina and had spent several hours patching up the infected girl.

Keith had spent the time digging a single grave. The next morning, they had all gathered around the grave and paid their final respects to their friend. After burying Danielle, the next few days turned into heated discussions about what should happen next.

The pilot said he wanted to leave to try and find fuel for the helicopter. Everyone knew that he was itching to get away from Casey. Her episode in the back of the helicopter had put him on edge, and he rarely spent any time in the same part of the cabin as the silver haired girl.

Carina wanted to stay at the cabin at least until Casey healed enough to move. Casey due to her injuries had to agree. Keith was torn, and eventually decided to go with the pilot stating, "I still need to find Ellis, and this way I'll make sure we stop by from time to time to drop off supplies."

So it had been decided and now Keith was walking out of the cabin towards the helicopter Casey following a little behind. The helicopter rotors began to turn and the small whine signaled that the pilot was more than ready to take off.

Carina walked around the side of the cabin and met Keith just short of the chopper.

"Take care of yourself okay."

Keith flashed a sadder version of his usual country grin and gave the college girl a strong hug. He turned and hugged Casey as well.

"Yall stay safe till I come back okay?"

Both girls nodded and then stepped away so Keith could climb in. The helicopter quickly lifted into the air and disappeared into the morning sky.

Still staring at the sky, Carina heard a few small sniffles escape her friend.

"I'm sure he'll be fine Casey."

"I know…it's just we've dealt with so much sorrow lately I can't keep the tears back as easily."

Carina wrapped an arm gently around the witch's shoulder. "You know my mom used to tell me that without sorrow we would never truly appreciate the good things that we have."

Carina turned and steered them both back towards the cabin.

"Don't worry Casey, we'll make it through the sorrow and tears. We always do don't we?"

"Yeah we always do." After a moments pause the witch perked up a little. "Now speaking of appreciating good things, let's go eat breakfast."

Casey let out a laugh and the two girls walked inside the cabin to prepare their meal.

**Author Note: To all of my readers and reviewers I just want to say thanks for sticking with me through this story. I had a blast writing it and I hope you guys enjoyed it a lot. Please review and let me know what you thought over all. Once again thanks for all the hits you guys rock (:**


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